Perhaps Dems should change their slogan to “Count every DEMOCRAT-ICK vote (but as few Republican votes as possible.)”
In a narrow interpretation of Ohio law, Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner says many of the McCain forms have not been completed properly. If the box stating the person is an eligible elector — or qualified voter – is not checked, Brunner said, the application is no good.
Even though the box is unneeded, by not checking it voters are essentially admitting they’re not eligible, Brunner said.
“I have not seen a ruling that indirectly impacts voters to the enormity of this since I’ve been here,’’ Hamilton County Board of Elections Deputy Director John Williams said of his nearly five-year tenure at the board.
More than 750 absentee ballot requests in Hamilton County have been invalidated because of Brunner’s ruling, Williams said.
. . .
Brunner was elected in 2006 on a campaign encouraging fewer restrictions on voters and more improvements in the election process to make the system easier and more transparent following two presidential elections in which Ohio was riddled with problems involving punch-card ballots, touchscreen machines, long lines and registration snafus.
Brunner said state law does not require one standardized form to apply for an absentee ballot. While the Secretary of State prints its own application, the law says it need not be a particular form. A voter can merely send a letter with personal information that identifies him or her as a qualified elector to receive an absentee ballot, Brunner said.
Hold on a minute here. If a voter can simply send a letter and does not require a specific form, then it sounds as if Ohio law is pretty flexible and errs on the side of allowing registered voters to obtain an absentee ballot. This isn’t as if these are voter registration forms. All of these people are already registered and only requesting absentee ballots.
There can only be one reason for her to make this declaration. She is trying to disenfranchise Republican voters.
Filed under: 2008 Elections, Democrats, National Politics
State law is very lenient in this regard. Instead of speculation and people quoting Brunner (WHO IS WRONG). It’s all right here: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3509.03
You can use any form you want to as long as you include all those things. One of those is (G) A statement that the person requesting the ballots is a qualified elector;
The McCain folks decided to put that statement in a checkbox at the top of the form in a different color background.
In the official Ohio form, there is a statement right before the signature that says, “I affirm that blah blah blah qualified elector… blah blah.. to the best of my knowledge.” Then a signature line.
So there is NO checkbox in the official form. Some moron at the McCain campaign decided not to copy the official form. Serves them right.
Brunner is NOT wrong. The law requires the statement that one is a qualified elector. The form provided by the secretary’s office states that by signing you affirm that you are a qualified elector.
The Mccain camp added a check box next to the affirmation of qualified elector statement. Their form is faulty. If the box is unchecked, the requestor has failed to satisfy ohio law.
Brunner is asking the boards of election to notify those whose apps are rejected by mail and allowing the elector to correct the information via the web. The request also does not disqualify an elector from voting in the traditional way.
The original poster is stupid and should have read the law. There is no required form, but there is required information.
Sorry, but I guarantee if this goes to court Brunner loses and I say that as someone with deep experience in election and campaign finance law.