FYI.. How Boards O Election are organized in Ohio.....

[WCGreen]

In Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), the head of the election board is a democrat....

I know because I served on the board back in 1995. What an experience that was....

Anyway, there are four board members, two each elected by the executive committee of the two major parties. The exeecutive committee members are elected by the Precinct Committe people or appointed by the County Chair. This is in the Ohio Revised Code.

The Executive Director is from one party and the Chairman of the board is of the other party......

There are the same number of democrats as republicans working for the board on a full time basis.....

It is like working in the DMZ......

Anyway, I know from first hand experience that the boards are full of politically appointed people who are sometimes not the, how shall I say this, best person for the job. This happens from BOTH Party's.

After my time at the board, I was amazed that anything actually got done.....

Still, there are so many people from the other party looking over your shoulder that it is almost impossible to get something deliberately wrong....

I think most of the problems arise from the fact that the people at the various boards of election in Ohio are overwhelmed by the amount of pre election activity and the intensity from the outside world.....

So, take it from someone who has sat on a board and had to deal with all the minor as wll as the few major problems that came up, most are just caused by people who are in positions for political reasons and not because they know anything about running elections.....

Am I excusing all the FU's? Hell now, just giving you a little "inside" perspective from someone whose been there, done that.......

[Philostopher]

1. I had a fair idea about the structure of the local BoEs,

but thanks, WCGreen -- others will find it instructive.

I still think Secretary Of State should somehow be a non-partisan post, or that one Dem and one GOP member should serve the post concurrently. It's ridiculous that one partisan guy, who's a member of the incumbent's election campaign, can have this much influence over it -- and if a Dem was playing dirty like Ken Blackwell, I'd feel the same way. The way we vote should not be so susceptible to partisan whim. For the most part, those who've held the office from either party in Ohio have done their jobs and played by the rules, more or less. This guy takes the cake, the plate, the paper knife and all the Flakes Frank Zappa ever met.

[WCGreen]

2. No Kidding....

The few Republican politicians that I know, yes, I know a few, can't stand the man...

They feel he is nothing more than a grandstander who has nothing to offer but blind poltical ambition.......

BTY, Sherrod Brown was Secretary of State before Taft who was SOS before Blackwell.....

Taft came to the Board while I was serving and I have never seen someone as blank. Looking him in the eye was like looking at a blank TV screen.......

[Philostopher]

3. About Taft -- I love it when the newspapers try to find

pictures of him with any expression on his face other than vaguely pained confusion. The Dayton Daily News has been using the same canned picture where he looks like he has at least a room-temperature IQ for the past several years.

And as many Ohioans (and most DUers who don't live in Ohio) don't know, Blackwell is even more of an opportunist/parasite than they suspect. He started off as a Democrat in Hamilton County, then switched parties once he had some political 'vig' and money behind him. In other words, not only is he a wholly-owned ideologue -- he's a turncoate wholly-owned ideologue.

[WCGreen]

4. POS.....

As one of my dear departed friends use to say,,,,

Piece of Shit.....