Columbus Going against his own party, Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell sought Friday to pre- vent battalions of political party activists from challenging Ohio voters at polling places on Tuesday. Blackwell's stunning announcement, intended to settle federal lawsuits in Cincinnati and Akron, brought him into immediate conflict with the Ohio Republican Party and one of his 2006 gubernatorial rivals, Republican Attorney General Jim Petro. Blackwell gave a perfunctory notice to Petro, faxed his recommendation to the judges and then rocked the state GOP by publicly instructing Petro, his lawyer, to formally present the settlement offer in both courts. Petro...