Secretaries of state to debate call for making post nonpartisan
Saturday, January 29, 2005 at 06:12AM
TheSpook
In the turbulent weeks before
and after the presidential election in this battleground state, Kenneth
Blackwell's fairness and integrity as Ohio's chief elections officer
were called into question at almost every turn. After all, Blackwell is
an ardent Republican and was President Bush's honorary campaign
co-chairman. The Ohio furor and a similar uproar in Florida during
the disputed White House race of 2000 have raised this question:
Should top election officials be allowed to participate in the very
campaigns they oversee? It will be a hot topic at a meeting of the
nation's secretaries of state next month. Also, a U.S. senator is
promising to propose a ban on campaigning by election chiefs. The
public must be assured "that we are not participating in any type of
manipulation," said Democrat Rebecca Vigil-Giron, New Mexico's
secretary of state and president of the National Association of
Secretaries of State. Secretaries of state are also chief elections
officials in 39 states. All 50 identify with a political party, but
some are appointed instead of elected. The issue has risen to
prominence largely because of Blackwell, who as Ohio secretary of state
oversaw the election in the state that ultimately sent the president
back to the White House. Among other things, the conservative black
Republican tried to enforce an old rule requiring voter registration
forms to be printed on 80-pound paper, and was accused of trying to
suppress the black vote by rejecting ballots cast in the wrong
precinct. He also drew criticism more recently when it was disclosed
that he sent a letter to GOP donors thanking them for helping deliver
Ohio for Bush. [more
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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