Jennifer Brunner

House Democrats Pass Spineless Legislation to Overhaul Elections

COLUMBUS – State Representative Robert Mecklenborg (R-Green Township) today denounced the passage of Substitute House Bill 260 from the House Elections and Ethics Committee. The legislation passed along party-lines and gives the Ohio Secretary of State ultimate veto power over local Board of Elections appointees. In addition to the power to break any tie vote on the number and location of early voting centers in each county; and authority to dictate to the local boards how to allocate their voting machines and ballots.

Note the reason.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court sided Friday with Ohio's top elections official in a dispute with the state Republican Party over voter registrations.

The justices overruled a federal appeals court that had ordered Ohio's top elections official to do more to help counties verify voter eligibility.

The 6th district federal court overturned a lower court ruling mandating that Brunner verify voting registrations. Of course it is surreal that a Secretary of State would not want to verify voting lists, but now she has to and thank goodness.
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The Columbus Dispatch-I think-is correctly calling what this wrangling between the Ohio Republican Party and her office is doing. Some of the things that have come out of that case is very disturbing. I just hope that whomever wins Ohio does so by a large margin, because I shudder to think what will happen if it comes down to a few thousand votes.
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COLUMBUS -- A federal judge has ordered Ohio's top elections official to verify the identity of newly registered voters.