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The News-Herald Endorses Jennifer!
Elect Jennifer Brunner next secretary of state
The News-Herald
October 25, 2006
Since 2004, Ohio elections have come under intense scrutiny. Questions about long lines at polling places and voter registration that year sparked state lawmakers to pass House Bill 3. Those new state election rules followed the federal Help America Vote Act - the federal response to the 2000 election debacle in Florida. Interpretations of election rules, voting machines and Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's involvement in President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign provided much fodder for critics of the current secretary of state. Blackwell even upset fellow Republicans. His edict on electronic voting machines - stemming from HAVA - didn't sit well with people who oversee flawless elections by using other equipment. Lake County Elections Board Director Jan Clair, a Republican, butted heads with Blackwell over a decision that cost Lake County hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ohio voters now will elect a new secretary of state in a race that pits Democrat Jennifer Brunner, a former Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judge, against Republican Greg Hartmann, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. While they have committed themselves to restoring trust in Ohio's elections, we believe Brunner's experience and plan would make her a better secretary of state. She is a former Franklin County Elections Board member and past legislative counsel and deputy director secretary of state. Brunner also served as an elections attorney for 13 years in private practice, representing local, statewide and presidential candidates - Democrats and Republicans. This former judge has proved she's willing to find unique solutions to problems. She pioneered practices as a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge to allow jurors to ask questions. She also established the county's first drug court. Brunner believes more young adults must be engaged in the elections process. One way she would achieve this would be offering shift work for poll workers on Election Day. She wants to implement standards to protect private information online, and would investigate mail-in voting, which is done successfully now in Oregon. Hartmann has a comprehensive 20-point plan, but he doesn't equal Brunner's knowledge of election law. Voters should give Brunner an opportunity to implement her ideas.
