Commissioners right to challenge Sec'y of State

Last Thursday, the Fulton County Commissioners drew a line in the sand and chose to stand up to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's directive that all Ohio boards of election have paper ballots available for the March primary election. Her directive was based upon the findings of the EVEREST Report, the $1.9 million risk-assessment study of Ohio's electronic voting system.

"The study found that there is an array of problems with the current voting system ... some have to do with procedures used by boards of election, others have to do with procedures, documentation and training provided by the voting machine manufacturers," Brunner said in her directive to elections boards.

However, since the implementation of direct recording electronic voting machines (DREs) in 2005, the Fulton County Board of Elections has conducted elections without any glitches that would undermine voter confidence. In fact, it could be said ours is a model board.

The Fulton County Board of Elections displays vote results on television monitors each election night. These live updates are available for all 88 Ohio counties to do, but to the best his knowledge Board Director Brett Kolb says ours is the only county to do so.

Kolb added our Board of Elections offers extensive training to all poll workers and Board of Elections members. The security measures taken by our board to secure votes go beyond those required by law.

Bruner's directive would cost county taxpayers over $20,000 in additional expense just for the March primary. Add to that figures to comply with the directive would add another $436,125.20 to comply for the November presidential election.

Commissioners and others including State Sen. Steve Buehrer have said this directive takes on the effect of law, a power not given to the Secretary of State. Therefore, the Commissioners denied the request by the Fulton County Board of Elections for the additional money. In addition, they gave their full and utmost support to the Board, its staff, policies and procedures.

The Fulton County Board of Elections should be commended for its outstanding dedication and work to keep our votes safe and assure they are counted accurately and fairly. In addition, the Commissioners did what was right by putting their support behind the board.

They have drawn their line in the sand and should rest assured they are standing on the right side.