Reply #8: OH: Brunner says communication is key [View All]

[freedomfries]

Brunner says communication is key

Shaun Dunlap
The Urbana Daily Citizen, OH
April 27, 2007
http://www.urbanacitizen.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=5&ArticleID=143643&TM=33561.31

The Ohio Secretary of State came to the Champaign County to address area Democrats during the Democratic Dinner Thursday at the fairgrounds.

Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, replaced Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican, earlier this year. One of the main responsibilities of the Secretary of State is to supervise the state's election process, a daunting task since Ohio has the seventh most electoral college votes in the nation.

Brunner said the the most important thing her office can do to avoid election problems is "provide clear instructions to boards of elections on what they need to operate a smooth and efficient election."

One of the things she said she has done is start to communicate electronically with every board of elections in the state.

"They're connected to our office through a computer line and they can constantly update the voter registration database," said Brunner. "We have an electronic message board where they can submit questions and receive answers in writing."
...
Electric voting machines

Ohio has had a rocky transition with electronic voting machines and Brunner doesn't see that changing too soon. However, she said she is trying to smooth out the bumps.

"Our office is actually conducting a thorough review of all the types of voting machines in the state," she said. "We hope to have that completed this year and to isolate any problems and determine how to deal with those problems and provide direction to the boards of elections to what can be done."

She said her goal is to have "a uniformity of procedure that guarantees the same voting rights to any Ohioan no matter what county they live in."

The main issue Brunner said she faces in her position is that the 2008 presidential race is too close to make any type of major change.

"So our goal is to break down the election process into its parts and provide the boards of elections with the support information and instruction they need at every step of the process to make sure that we're doing everything that needs to be done," said Brunner.
http://www.urbanacitizen.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=5&ArticleID=143643&TM=33561.31