Ohio's Strickland and Brown Defend Chief Election Officer, Slam Republicans on Attempts at Voter Suppression

OhioNewsBureau

with John Michael Spinelli

Columbus, Ohio: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and US Sen. Sherrod Brown, both Democrats, defended actions of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer BrunnerJennifer Brunner, also a Democrat, to comply with federal and state laws regarding the registering of new voters and what happens when so-called database "mis-matches" crop up, a thorny and controversial topic the US Supreme Court came to her defense on Friday, when it ruled that she does not have to provide mis-match information to local boards of elections, as Ohio Republicans said she does and a lower federal court of appeals ruled she must do by today.

In a conference call with reporters this afternoon, Strickland and Brown, both in their first terms of office, came to the defense of their party's chief elections official, who has been waged in a war of lawsuits with Ohio Republicans over the issues of registering new voters and the casting of fraudulent ballots by these new voters, who election experts say disproportionately lean Democratic and are forecasted to vote for Illinois Sen. Barack ObamaBarack Obama of his rival, Republican Sen. John S. McCain of Arizona.

Brown, a former Ohio secretary of state and congressman who surfed to victory on a tidal wave of change in 2006 that tossed out Republicans in the wake of various state scandals, said this election is like no other he has seen. "I've never seen anything like it," said Brown, whose congressional district represented many northeastern areas of Ohio where heavy job losses have occurred under President BushPresident Bush. Speaking to the turnaround in expected voter turnout, Brown said that voter turnout has been trending downward from 1960, when Nixon won Ohio but lost the White House to John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy, but turned around in 2004, when the battle between Bush and Massachusetts Sen. John KerryJohn Kerry came down to who would win Ohio and its 20 Electoral College votes. Bush beat Kerry by 118.601 votes, a slim margin Brown, Strickland and other Democrats hope to beat this year if the voter suppression tactics they accuse Republicans of fostering don't materialize enough to cast a shadow on the record turn of of voters expected this year.

Brown, who once employed Brunner, defended his former employee, saying she "is understanding of her oath of office, plays it fair and will assure that every vote will count." He added Brunner is a "good public official, is trained to do the job and knows how to do it." He said voter suppression is the favorite bogeyman Republicans like to bring out every four years, but said that registrations are up and that he expects a "huge turnout in virtually every part of state."

Gov. Strickland said he was concerned that Ohio not be portrayed nationally as a state where people cannot have confidence in outcome of elections. The first-term Democratic governor, who served with Brown when they were both Congressman, expressed his misgivings with the "attempt by the campaign and party that is loosing to try to use diversionary tactics to get people thinking about things other than the economy." Offering a revealing anecdote about a telephone call he received today from a friend in New York state asking about all the voter fraud in Ohio, Strickland, born in Appalachia Ohio, explained what mis-matched names involve.

"I was thinking about myself," he said of his birth certificate, which uses his formal name of Theodore but wouldn't match his driver's license, where he uses Ted. "Had I registered most recently," he told listening reporters, "I would have been considered among the mis-matched names." He again reiterated that he sees no evidence of voter fraud in Ohio.

"It offends me that even some leaders in GOP are trying to convey that impression in their criticism of Se.. Brunner and our voting system," Strickland said, noting that the high court unanimously refused to accept the challenge [from Republicans] as valid a brought Brunner. He then said it would not surprise him if other legal attempts to prevent someone from voting are pursued in the few weeks remaining before Election Day is upon us. Such maneuvers, as Strickland called them, "can or could have the effect of suppressing the vote, causing people to choose not to vote, being fearful their right to vote will be challenged."

Brown, speaking with his signature gravely voice, was markedly less decisive in defending Brunner on her decision to not accept voter registration cards issued by the campaign of John S. McCain because a box on the form indicating the person was eligible to vote was not checked. "She accepted outcome," he said of the court ruling saying Brunner had erred in that judgment. He said it was an "issue where legitimate points of view on both sides of the argument." Brown called it was a "close call about which was the right course of action to take."

Strickland said the lawsuit was not frivolous. Brown chimed in saying that while he was the state's chief elections officer for two terms, he always erred on the side of more people participating in voting, Brown congratulated Brunner for trying to enforce laws as written. "All the laws she's enforcing were written by Republican legislators," he said. In a moment of subdued sarcasm, Brown actually commended Republicans. "It's nice to see Republicans use the court to expand rather than restrict voting."

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