Ohio SOS Candidate Jen. Brunner:"Longline Taftwell" fails another election

[Kolesar]

NEWS RELEASE

Ohio NOT Prepared for New Voting

Machines Under Blackwell Problems at Polls

Demonstrate Need for Brunner’s Experience

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Columbus, OH – Unacceptable voting problems again plagued Ohio elections — this time in yesterday’s statewide primary — a sign that experienced and impartial leadership in the Secretary of State’s Office is urgently needed before Ohio’s next presidential election.

At the center of the controversy are Diebold electronic voting machines. Many boards of elections had no choice but to select these machines because of a funding distribution formula devised by Blackwell that favored Diebold--all while Blackwell personally held stock in the company. While other voting machine options were available, they usually involved additional local funding not available to many county boards of election.

In Blackwell’s selection of Diebold, he failed to account for additional costs to boards of elections for maintenance, troubleshooting, training and machine preparation and testing. For many boards of elections, this has resulted in additional and unfunded costs, and as seen yesterday, a sketchy election process that would be unacceptable in a business or financial setting.

During the 2004 presidential election, Blackwell used publicly funded advertisements to feature himself urging voters to vote in their own precincts. No centralized poll worker training program has been developed or adopted by Blackwell to prepare boards of elections and their poll workers for the gargantuan shift in technology that occurred this primary election. Despite the claims of voting machine manufacturers that the technology is safe and reliable, Blackwell’s inattention proved that human error trumps technology every time.

“Obviously the current Secretary of State has been busy playing politics instead of concentrating on his election administration responsibilities,” said Jennifer Brunner. “The voting problems experienced by the people of Ohio are completely unacceptable and indicate a burning need to elect a Secretary of State with impartiality and relevant election law experience,” Brunner said.

CONTACT: Gabrielle Williamson, Director of Communications 937-304-3300/ [e-mail]