Cleveland Law Library Weblog

Ohio Supreme Court Candidates Sign "Clean Campaign Agreement"

All of the candidates running for positions on the Ohio Supreme Court have signed a "Clean Campaign Agreement." The Ohio State Bar Association's Judicial Election Campaign Advertising Monitoring Committee recently announced that Justice Maureen O'Connor, Judge Joseph D. Russo, Judge Peter M. Sikora, and Justice Evelyn L. Stratton have all signed the agreement to take personal responsibility for the contents of their election advertisements and statements. In also requiring these candidates to steer clear of negative campaigning that impunes the judicial system or fellow candidates, the OSBA and its President, Robert Ware, are hoping to instead focus the election on "credentials, judicial temperament and experience...that demonstrate the dignity and respect the office deserves."

Cuyahoga County to Switch Voting Equipment Again

The Plain Dealer reports that voters will have to contend with yet another voting system for the November 2008 presidential election. The local Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has scrapped plans to use "central-count" optical scan machines it rented for the March primary and will change to "precinct-based" optical scanning machines for November. These new machines would apparently allow voters to review their ballot choices before their votes are counted and they leave the polls. Whether the county will buy or rent this new equipment is still up-in-the-air, but vendors are scheduled to provide quotes by April 28th in anticipation of making formal presentations on May 1st.

Ohio LSC Publishes Brief on Election Process

Adding to its growing collection of publicly-available "Members Only" publications, the Ohio Legislative Service Commission has published a brief entitled "An Overview of Ohio's Election Process."  This brief provides information on Ohio's election officials, voter registration, electors, candidacy, types of elections, ballots, voting, polls, recounts, election contests, campaign finance, required notices and federal election laws.

Cuyahoga BOE Investigating Cross-Over Voters

Cuyahoga County's Board of Elections recently initiated an investigation of voters who switched their party affiliation for the March 4th presidential primary. This investigation began because over 16,000 Republicans in Cuyahoga County declared themselves as Democrats by signing a required affidavit of allegiance to their new party. Falsifying this affidavit carries with it with the potential for a felony 5 conviction with 6-12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine pursuant to Ohio Revised Code secs. 3513.20 and 3599.36. Allegations that voters were trying to rig the November election to help John McCain succeed could lead to subpoenas and prosecution. The Plain Dealer indicated that a report from the BOE was expected by March 31st, but it has not yet been issued.

Ohio Can Only Use Certified E-Poll Books for Election

According to an Ohio Secretary of State Press Release, Ohio SOS Jennifer Brunner has issued an advisory that only e-poll books that have been certified by the Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners (BVME) can be used in the upcoming elections. Instead of print registers of eligible voters, an e-poll book is an electronic database containing a list of eligible voters in a county or state. Poll workers can look up names in the database and determine whether a person appearing at the polls is permitted to cast a ballot. E-poll books may eventually replace all print registers at polling locations, but at present, only 3 e-poll books from Premier Elections Solutions (fna Diebold Election Systems, Inc.) have been certified by the Ohio BVME. Ohio Revised Code section 3506.05(B) governs the certification of electronic voting "equipment," including software.

Feb 5th-ACLU Gets Injunction Hearing on Cuyahoga County Paper Ballots

Tomorrow, on February 5, 2008, Judge Kathleen O'Malley of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio will hold a hearing on the ACLU's petition for a preliminary injunction to prohibit Cuyahoga County from using paper ballots in the upcoming presidential primary on March 4th. The Plain Dealer reported that the ACLU filed for injunctive relief on January 28th, claiming that the system imposed by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner violates the equal protection clause of US Constitution. Click here to read our prior post about Brunner's order. The case docket can be found on PACER under Case No. 1:08-cv-00145-KMO. Click here to read the ACLU's Memorandum in Support of its motion for a preliminary injunction.

Cuyahoga Ordered to Use Paper Ballots by March 2008

The Plain Dealer reports that Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has ordered Cuyahoga County to use paper ballots by the March 2008 Presidential primary. Although Cuyahoga County spent about $21 million within the last 2 years to buy touch-screen machines, recurring problems, including 2 computer crashes in the recent November elections, caused the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to reconsider its decision. On Thursday, the BOE vote deadlocked, and Brunner broke the tie Friday. Apparently, the Cuyahoga BOE is already gearing up to bring in optical scanners in January at a cost of up to $9 million dollars to count the print ballots. Will the optical scanners be optimal for the upcoming elections? Only time will tell.

Ohio SOS Worried About Ohio's Voting System

The Ohio Secretary of State has cause for concern about Ohio's voting system. Using $1.9 million in federal government funds, SOS Jennifer Brunner commissioned an EVEREST Report that recently concluded that Ohio's voting system contains “critical security failures.” EVEREST stands for Evaluation & Validation of Election-Related Equipment, Standards  & Testing.  Some of the Report's key recommendations include eliminating precinct-based optical scanning machines, converting to bar code ballots that can be read by an AutoMark machine, and centralizing vote counting. Interestingly, the Report commented that Ohio's system is too dependent on humans, who are prone to make errors. In response to the report, the SOS is calling for fundamental change. Click here to listen to a videotaped message SOS Brunner on youtube.com.

11th Hour No Contest Plea by Cuyahoga Elections Workers

Two (2) elections workers from Cuyahoga County received 'Stay-out-of-Jail' cards yesterday when they pleaded no contest to tampering with a ballot recount involving the 2004 presidential election. Although the women were convicted earlier this year, Judge Saffold ordered new trials in early August that were scheduled to go forward yesterday, on Monday, November 5, 2007. The women's pleas were an 11th hour attempt to avoid a jail time, and it worked. The Plain Dealer article covering the story indicates that the Judge will not enter any sentence (of guilty or not guilty) if the women stay out of trouble for a term of 6 months of probation. Click here to read our prior post with information about their convictions and new trial orders, with links to the dockets in their cases.

5 Local Muni Court Judges Are Up For Re-Election

The Ohio Judicial Conference has published a list of all Municipal Court judges that are up for re-election on November 6th, by county. There are 2 seats up in Cleveland Municipal Court, 1 in Cleveland's Housing Court, 1 in Parma, and 1 in Rocky River. Click here to go to Judge4yourself.com to review ratings on both the incumbents and the candidates for these offices in Cuyahoga County, as prepared by the Judicial Candidates Rating Coalition.  This site is a joint project of the Cleveland Bar Association, the Cuyahoga County Bar Association, the Cuyahoga Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Norman S. Minor Bar Association, and the Ohio Women's Bar Association.