Brunner: Not ‘Early Voting’
Ohio secretary of state says right term is ‘absentee voting in person’By JOSELYN KING
Article Photos
ST. CLAIRSVILLE - Don't call it "early voting" in Ohio.
The correct term is "absentee voting in person," Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner declared. And Ohio's voters have been taking advantage of the opportunity to vote at their local board of elections since optical scan ballots became available Tuesday.
Absentee voting has been especially popular in Belmont County this election season, where officials want all voters to cast absentee ballots.
And Brunner addressed the issue of having an all vote-by-mail election in Ohio as she visited the Belmont County Board of Elections office Wednesday.
"I would like to see individual counties put the issue before voters and ask them if they want it," Brunner said. "I think that with an option like that, it could be successful."
County elections board members present asked how they should go about getting such a measure on the ballot.
Brunner responded that the Ohio General Assembly must authorize such actions; she is currently working to secure the authorization from state lawmakers.
Brunner also suggested the first vote-by-mail elections might be issue-only or "special elections," so that both voters and elections officials first can become accustomed to the new system .
She also speculated on how the 2008 presidential election will be different in Ohio from the 2004 election - when the eyes of the nation were on Ohio's election returns.
"We have a completely new voting system," Brunner said. "No more punch cards. Our voters will be using either optical scan or touchscreen devices."
She reiterated that absentee voting is available to all in the state who want to vote early, and that unlike four years ago, voters don't need an excuse to cast an early ballot.
Voters this year also will be required to show identification at the polls the same as they were in the 2006 gubernatorial election.
"This year officials will be more familiar with the rules," Brunner said. "We have supplied the boards of elections with manuals, and all pollworkers have been given one."
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TruthinPolitics
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10-04-08 6:42 PM
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Why would any American object to more Americans exercising their right to vote? This is a democracy. It is in all of our best interest to have as much of the population vote as possible. Convenience is a good thing. Maybe busy working people will be able to vote.
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EllisWyatt
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10-02-08 7:19 PM
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Nancy These comments came from left-wing writers. Why don't you cry to them? In 2004, the Democrats enlisted dozens of private jets and an army of 20,000 lawyers prepared to fly into Ohio at a moment's notice (ie. when it became clear that John Kerry had lost). Kerry, for once, took the high road when he conceded and asked the Democrats to back off and accept the people's votes. Now, will you explain how ACORN (with the $800,000 Obama contract) managed to find 75,000 new voters in a county that already has 200,000 more registered voters than it has adults? Care to comment on this fraud?
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tmoore
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10-02-08 3:41 PM
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Does she have her active ACORN membership card? Guaranteed.
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NancySI
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10-02-08 9:38 AM
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EllisWyatt-"Democrat Jennifer Brunner is sadly mirroring the same partisan mischief Republican Ken Blackwell was infamous for when he was Secretary of State." and "Jennifer Brunner is the most biased official in the state of Ohio." Let me go back and look for those posts you wrote when this paper endorsed Blackwell. I would guess your dignity forced you to use bias name calling against Blackwell also. Oh, you didn't support bipartisanship then? Bipartisanship just a minute by minute thingy for you based on which way the wind blows? Look up the definition of bipartisanship please.
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Destroyallmonsters
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10-02-08 9:03 AM
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Whet the*****are you loonies crying about now? Blackwell did more to tank the vote in Ohio in the past then this lady ever did. There is nothing in this article even mentioning people voting after they have just registered. Besides, Ohioans need to present ID to even vote.
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literate
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10-02-08 6:45 AM
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Fishy? Still nothing when one remembers Katherine Harris former Sec of State of Floridia who admitted to thinking if G.W. won she'd be A. General. She presided over the 2000 election during the recount and said "It is my great pleasrue to announce George Bush president of the.." A wonderful moment in "fishy"
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EllisWyatt
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10-02-08 6:30 AM
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Jennifer Brunner is the most biased official in the state of Ohio. "Democrat Jennifer Brunner is sadly mirroring the same partisan mischief Republican Ken Blackwell was infamous for when he was Secretary of State. She's disqualifying what may be thousands and thousands of McCain-campaign printed absentee ballot request forms because of a technicality in which voters failed to check off an extraneous box that affirms they're a qualified voter. This is plainly partisan, legalistic voter-disenfranchising bull*** and Jennifer Brunner - a onetime recipient of a Profile in Courage award for her whistle-blowing against insecure electronic voting systems - ought to be ashamed of herself." (“Ballot access shenanigans in Ohio,” Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone, 9/12/08) "Well, I tell you what, it helps in Ohio that we've got Democrats in charge of the machines." - Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama (Columbus Dispatch) Enough said?
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