We here find this issue fascinating to say the least. In one corner you have the Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. In the other corner you have the 88 County Boards of Election. In the middle, the 2008 Elections. SoS Brunner has leveled a number of directives following a nearly $2 million study on elections. Basically, Brunner wants all BOEs to go to Optical Scan paper ballots by the 2008 general election. The County BOEs think Brunner is over-reaching and the equipment they currently use is secure and accurate.
Lucky for us, the Columbus Dispatch had this storyon Friday in which they publish the results from a poll they did with county BOE officials regarding Brunner’s actions as SoS. Here is my favorite Question and Response:
Q: How confident are you in the security and accuracy of the equipment your county now uses?
-
Very Confident – 75%
-
Somewhat Confident – 18%
-
Not very Confident – 6%
-
Not confident at all – 1%
Wow, take that you dirty, hippie conspiracy theorists!
We believe this is going to be a huge story throughout 2008 and some of our own conspiracy theorists feel that Brunner is trying to tank the 2008 elections and then blame it on the county BOEs, which would allow her to try to take over authority of the elections from the county BOEs and put it in her hands. Interesting thought and we shall see what occurs.
Jennifer Brunner is inheriting the wind of arrogance and self-righteousness that she’s blown across Ohio. For someone who said Ohio’s election system works only as well as it does because of the expertise and hard work of local election officials, it seems counter intuitive she would make enemies of these people by forcing a system they don’t want and can’t afford down their throat or firing them if they don’t cowtow to her dictatorial directives.
Brunner is not a team player. She’s a micro-managing bully who doesn’t know how to react to anyone who says no to her other than to fire them or threaten them with her office powers. She’s offloading the fear and intimidation that runs rampant through her own agency to county BOEs, who, as Bob Bennett said, don’t need her as much as she need them.
Ohio bought a pig in a poke when they elected Jennifer Brunner. She sounded good during the election, but she’s been nothing but bad news in office.