DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — Democratic Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner may have won a battle with the Ohio Republican Party on Friday, Oct. 17, but a partisan war over Ohio's voting system is expected to continue right up until Election Day and perhaps beyond if the outcome in the presidential election is close.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Friday centered on an estimated 200,000 of the nearly 666,000 voters who have registered since Jan. 1 and whose names on voter registration forms don't match information on drivers' licenses and Social Security records.

The high court said it was unlikely a private entity such as the Ohio GOP, which brought suit against Brunner, had the authority to ask a federal court to rule that Brunner wasn't complying with the Help America Vote Act.

The GOP wanted Brunner to be ordered to provide local elections boards with data on the mismatches.

Kevin DeWine, deputy chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, said it's likely, as Brunner has said, that many mismatches were due to misspellings or clerical errors. That's not the point, DeWine added.

"Secretary Brunner did not do her job," DeWine said.

Democrats have mounted an aggressive voter registration drive and contend the lawsuit is part of a Republican effort to suppress turnout.

"I ask all involved to stop the legal maneuvers that unnecessarily shake public confidence," Brunner said.

DeWine said Democrats "ought to be ashamed of rolling out the same old Democratic ... scare tactics" that Republicans are trying to suppress the vote. The GOP is considering other avenues to pursue the case, he said.

Meanwhile, separate legal battles continue, including a lawsuit filed in Warren County by the conservative Buckeye Institute against ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The suit charges ACORN with "corrupt activity that amounts to organized crime" in its voter registration activities. ACORN called the suit a "stunt."

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.