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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > October > 21
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
New developments emerge in voter registration mismatch fight
There were new developments on Tuesday, Oct. 21, in the ongoing battle between Ohio Republicans and Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner over mismatched voter registrations.
*David Myhal, a registered Republican from suburb an Columbus, withdrew his suit in the Ohio Supreme Court, asking the court to compel Brunner to instruct county boards of elections not to process or count absentee ballots cast by voters registered after Jan. 1 before reviewing them for mismatches.
Myhal filed the suit on Friday, Oct. 17, after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out an order from a lower federal court directing Brunner to provide county boards of elections with details of how personal information on new voter registration forms doesn’t match information on drivers’ licenses or Social Security records. This was in a lawsuit filed by the Ohio GOP.
The U.S. Supreme Court said the Ohio GOP likely would not prevail on the underlying question of whether the lower federal court was authorized to act on a lawsuit brought by a private entity.
*Ohio Republican Chairman Robert Bennett said in a press release that he had asked that the Myhal lawsuit be withdrawn in “the interest of negotiating a solution out of court.” Bennett said that he had “reached out” to Attorney General Nancy Rogers to “begin a dialogue” and that a meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
Bennett said that Brunner had indicated she would comply with the order from the lower federal court to assist election administrators.
*Nine of Ohio’s 11 Republican U.S. House members, including House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester and David Hobson, R-Springfield, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey asking him to compel Brunner to “comply with the Help America Vote Act. That is the federal law that Ohio Republicans say requires Brunner to provide local boards of elections with the mismatch information.
Brunner’s office has said the information is available, just not in the form Republicans want.
In a press release, Brunner said she was pleased the lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court was withdrawn.
“It is my hope that both parties will now come together to support Ohio’s bipartisan election system and allow the preparation and training I have required of our state’s election workers to proceed without further interference so that democracy works for the critical decisions facing our communities, our state and our country,” Brunner said.
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Who helps more -“The Boss or the “Redneck Woman?”
Celebrities always flock to political campaigns and this year’s no different.
Both Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have enlisted movie stars and singers to rally supporters and get out the vote.
Bruce Springsteen - “The Boss” - rocked the Ohio State campus on Oct. 5, drawing thousands of fans to an Obama rally - even if the candidate himself wasn’t there.
McCain is battling back on Wednesday, Oct. 22 when he appears in Cincinnati with country singer Gretchen Wilson of “Redneck Woman” fame. Sarah Palin, McCain’s vice presidential running mate, will be there, too.
Click here for details and how to get tickets.
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McCain back on top in Ohio poll
In the topsy-turvy world of political polling, Republican John McCain now has a 2-point lead in a new Fox News Rasmussen Reports poll of likely voters in Ohio. McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama, 49-47 percent in the poll released Monday, Oct. 20.
A week ago Obama was ahead by 2 points in the same poll, the Democrat’s first lead in Ohio since February. The new poll was taken Sunday, Oct. 19.
Because the poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent, the results for both weeks basically mean the race is a toss up. For full results, click here.
The results in the poll contrast sharply with the 9-point lead that Obama had over McCain - 51-42 percent - in a Suffolk University poll also released on Monday.
An average of recent Ohio polls by the Web site RealClearPolitics shows Obama leading, 48.3-45.5 percent, a 2.8 percent advantage.
