NEWS RELEASE

BRUNNER’S OPPONENT DEFENDS BLACKWELL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, June 30, 2006 – Columbus, OH - In a bizarre move Wednesday, Jennifer Brunner’s opponent for Ohio Secretary for State accused her of “unfounded accusations to attack the gubernatorial candidate [Ken Blackwell]” and “lying to the media about allowing people to register to vote.” By doing so Brunner’s opponent, defended Ken Blackwell, Ohio’s current Secretary of State, despite Blackwell’s controversial oversight of the 2004 Presidential election and his recent emergency adoption of rules to hinder voter registration in Ohio.  

Brunner’s opponent is yet another Republican from Hamilton County in a long line of ambitious Republican Secretary of State candidates (Taft, Blackwell, Hartmann), whose desire to hold higher office has overshadowed using honest efforts for fair elections that voters can trust.  Brunner’s opponent chaired the Bush reelection campaign in 2004 while he was making his first run for office in Hamilton County.

“It’s a disservice to Ohio voters that my opponent has chosen to sling mud at this early stage in the race with the election more than four months away.

It’s clear this year that my opponent is conducting “Ohio GOP business as usual”--resorting to attacks on my efforts and those of fair-minded citizens to fight for free, fair, open and honest elections in Ohio.”  

Brunner’s comments come on the heels of a contentious adoption in the state legislature of Blackwell’s new voter registration rules by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review on Monday.  The rules, already in effect, require any voter registrar, whether paid or unpaid, to either mail or personally submit all voter registration forms to the Secretary of State or a board of elections, under penalty of a fifth degree felony.  The rules are opposed by a myriad of groups whose expected voter registration efforts in Ohio, especially in minority communities of the state, have ground to a halt for fear of criminal prosecution of their voter registrars.

Brunner, a former judge, holds years of election experience, including service on the Franklin County Board of Elections, as a deputy director of the Ohio Secretary of State’s office and 13 years as a lawyer practicing election law. No present or prior candidate for Ohio Secretary of State can match her experience or her commitment to protecting the integrity of the vote and improving elections in Ohio.  After being elected twice, she resigned her seat on the Franklin County Common Pleas Court to become a candidate for Ohio Secretary of State, an office that is once again predicted to be in the spotlight during the 2008 Presidential election.

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Media contact: Patrick Gallaway, Director of Communications – Jennifer Brunner Committee, at (614) 246-1548, Patrick@jenniferbrunner.com

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