Good news from OHIO; Jennifer Brunner is on the job.

[Botany]

For all those out there worried about a clean vote in 2008 and no repeat
of 2004 I have good news and her name is Jennifer Brunner, our Sec. of
State who took over and is cleaning up Kenny Blackwell's mess. I read a
story about "the old guard" trying to purge voter rolls by cage lists
and sent Jennifer an e-mail about the problem and this what she sent me back.

Hi XXX,

Hope you are well. Of course I remember you. We just issued a directive yesterday that is designed to combat the harmful effects of the legislation (which, by the way, sunsets at the end of this year), that requires the nonforwardable mailing of the 60-day notice. The directive prohibits the cancellation of voter registrations on the sole basis of a returned 60-day notice and requires a hearing to be held before the election. I will be asking the legislature to make changes to this law. Here’s the directive, though. Take care.

Jennifer

Part of the PDF file she sent me

TO: ALL COUNTY BOARDS OF ELECTIONS MEMBERS, DIRECTORS, AND DEPUTY DIRECTORS RE: Required Procedures in Administering Voter Challenge Statutes, R.C. 3503.24 and 3505·19 The intent of this directive is to prescribe procedures that will limit boards of elections' potential exposure to significant awards of damages and attorneys' fees in suits brought by Ohio voters whose voter registrations have been canceled based on application of Ohio's voter challenge statutes in a manner that conflicts with federal statutory and constitutional law. The Secretary of State issues this directive to harmonize the provisions of R.C. 3503.24 and 3505.19 with the National Voter Registration Act ("NVRA") and the United States Constitution to ensure that boards of elections do not unconstitutionally cancel a voter's registration without the due process guarantees in the United States Constitution and federal law. The office of the Secretary of State has concluded, based on comprehensive legal research and analysis of Ohio's voter challenge statutes and controlling federal law, that R.C. 3503.24 and 3505.19, if applied in conflict with requirements of federal law, ,,;11 place boards of elections in a legally vulnerable position. The Ohio challenge statutes authorize, under certain circumstances, the cancellation of an Ohioan's voter registration without first providing the voter due process protections of adequate notice and opportunity to demonstrate that the challenge to his or her status as a qualified registered elector should be denied, and that his or her registration should not be canceled. The procedures established in this directive include the requirement that, where a challenge is submitted pursuant to R.C. 3503,24 and 3505.19 asserting that a registered elector is not qualified to vote, a hearing must be held before the next election as a requisite for the board canceling the challenged voter's registration, which may l'eslLit in disenfranchisement ofthat votel' fOI' that election. This directive will: • Provide procedures for boards of elections to follow in administering voter challenges prior to Election Day to ensure that boards do not unconstitutionally deprive a voter of his or her constitutional rights and to avoid costly litigation. • Explain the current status of Ohio law regarding voter challenges before Election Day. • Explain how certain prov;sions in Ohio law may conOict with federal law and the United States Constitution regarding canceling a voter's registration \\;thout due process based on a voter challenge before Election Day.



P.S. She is also suing Diebold too.

"My lawsuit against Diebold still stands, and we'll keep pursuing it."

:bounce:


You should hear the right wing snarl and whine about Brunner being to partisan and we
can't dump the electronic voting machines because we have to safe the taxpayer's money

[lonestarnot]

1. Good now what about Virgineeeee?

[mod mom]

2. Of course the bad news is she can't see within the machines that have been shown to be:

inaccurate
unreliable and
subject to tampering!


Nearly half of voting machines tested fail

Montgomery officials tested the 5% of machines that drew complaints; 56 of those 125 machines failed.


By Lynn Hulsey
Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 21, 2007



http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/03/21/ddn032107elex.html



Ohio seizes voting machines in criminal investigation

By Ryan Paul | Published: March 18, 2008 - 08:38AM CT

At the request of election officials, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation has seized voting machines for forensic analysis and has launched a criminal investigation into the Franklin County Board of Elections.


The investigation was launched after Jennifer Brunner, Ohio's Secretary of State and chief election official, found that a candidate's name was marked as withdrawn on the electronic voting machine that she used during the recent primaries, an irregularity that was also reported by voters in other precincts. The state attorney general is now working with a team of computer forensic consultants to determine if there was any tampering.

Preliminary analysis conducted by specialists from SysTest Labs indicates that the internal audit capability of the Franklin County voting machines had been manually disabled by county election board programmers last year, making it almost impossible to tell if any nefarious changes have been made to the systems. SysTest also discovered that the election board had failed to adhere to routine machine testing standards and had tested only one machine in each precinct rather than all of the machines.

-SNIP

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080318-ohio-seizes-voting-machines-in-criminal-investigation.html

[Botany]

4. She is going to have PSA that say you can have a paper ballot or vote early

Man is she making the right wing scream bloody murder.

[madmom]

3. ABSENTEE BALLOT!!!!!!!!!

[Berry Cool]

9. Anyone can now cast an "absentee ballot" in Ohio, i.e., vote early.

Actually it's been possible since 2006, when I did it. Voted on paper even though I was going to be around on Election Day. I don't doubt this change was largely responsible for the election of our new Democratic officials.

Thanks for the good news, Bot. We need it. I am going to be moving as of October and I am not getting my ID changed or reregistering with my change of address until that small window of time between my move-in and the voter registration deadline. I will NOT be caged by someone trying to tell me I "don't really live" at the address at which I am registered.

[blm]

5. This is what I mean about Dems having muscles in states like Ohio. Dems had none in 2000, 02, 04

and were too weak in so many states that GOP easily controlled the election process at every level where the votes are allowed, cast and counted.

I expect the national party is pushing ALL Dem officials in every state to push their way into monitoring the entire process more closely.

[Botany]

6. I know Sec. Brunner a little

For years the local BOEs were the way the republicans controlled the vote in Ohio ....
Jenny sent out a new book of rules and ethics and if somebody said they couldn't
live up to it or some such shit she fired 'em.

[blm]

17. This is exactly why Dems need to wake up and realize the process has many levels where the votes

and the election are waylaid long before election day.

Ohio definitely has a new sheriff and I hope more Dem election officials are watching her closely and taking notes for their own states.

[radfringe]

7. k&r

[EFerrari]

8. That's fine, Botany, but this doesn't mean that Ohio election protection

doesn't need help. :(

[KharmaTrain]

10. This Is Where The Ground Game Comes In

I've read Obama and the DNC already have an army of lawyers versed in election laws at the ready to go after caging and other schemes.

In Ohio, I don't expect there's be long lines in predominately Democratic areas this year and with Democrats doing the counting there and in Colorado and Virginia, I don't see the Blackwells or Harris' at play like we did in the past.

Also, increased Democratic registration is gonna outweight all the votes that can be caged or flipped...and it'd have to be done in a lot of places this time. While I expect dirty tricks, I see it a lot harder this year to pull it off.

Cheers...

:hi:

[EFerrari]

13. I like your thinking. And, this year it will be easier than ever

to dump our registrations because there's a mandated DIGITAL database.

After watching this stuff for some time, I can honestly tell you the DNC ground game isn't as important to us as citizen involvement. That's were all the real gains have been made.

We need to get me and you and him offa the couch this year. :)

[Botany]

12. I might be doing that myself

In 2004 I was in over my head

In 2006 my answer to if problems were not "worked out"
to what I thought was right (I was on the phone to lawyers
from the dem party) was "look I am not going to debate this
a lawyer is on the way." I remember one precint judge who
was a republican at first getting beat red then trying to be my
friend.

I myself will be working on getting everybody to vote early
or use a paper ballot.

[bleever]

11. "Of course I remember you."

Who could forget a guy whose name is XXX?

Seriously, thanks for the updates on the progress against Ohio election fraud. I think you guys are going to have a good November.

[Botany]

14. After that bring on the "show trials"

Oh Mr. Blackwell we have a few questions for you.

[LonelyLRLiberal]

15. I wish Dems would do our own exit polling.

I vote in a state with paper backup on e-voting machines, but if someone asked me upon leaving my polling place to sign a survey of Obama voters, I would have no problem doing so, even though I would be "outing" my own secret ballot.

[Wilber_Stool]

16. I feel much better now.

Thank you.

[JDPriestly]

18. This could mean that if a local board disenfranchised someone

and got sued, the members of the board might not be immune from the lawsuit. In other words, if a local board violates this order and gets sued, the members of the board might be personally liable for violating a voter's civil right to vote. If board members are smart enough to know what this could mean for their personal lives, they will carefully follow the directive.

[KharmaTrain]

19. Why Elections Matter...

That's a great email...I had read that Brunner was working to overturn all the crap left behind by Blackwell and was well aware of the caging games that were underway. She stood firm to challenges of voter registration on college campuses...specifically OSU that will easily put Obama over the top in that key area.

Also, I'm sure she'll make sure there are working voting machines in Cleveland...no long lines or disenchanted voters.

Kudos for the folks in Ohio for ousting the corrupt Repugnicans in 2006 and putting more competent people in charge. If the election is stolen this year, it won't be in Ohio.

Cheers...

[Corey_Baker08]

20. As a Proud Ohioan I believe Mrs. Brunner will do a fine job!

I have even got to verbally voice my concern about the 2004 election to her.