This is pretty brazen even for a Democrat.
It appears that Ohio's Secretary of State doesn't like Republicans very much. In fact, Jennifer Brunner has been referred to as the "most partisan" official in the state.
That must explain why she is disqualifying thousands of Republican votes through some arrogant chicanery that would make Mayor Daley in Chicago proud as Peter Bronson of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports: *
The John McCain campaign sent out more than 1 million applications for absentee ballots to Republicans. Each had a line at the top next to a box: "I am a qualified elector."
Brunner sent a memo telling county election officials to reject those applications for absentee ballots if the box was not checked. "Failure to check the box leaves both the applicant and the board of elections without verification that the applicant is a 'qualified elector'," she wrote.
But that's contrary to state law and Brunner doesn't have the authority, according to the lawsuit and an opinion from Hamilton County's Republican Prosecutor Joe Deters.
Ohio law allows voters to request an absentee ballot on the back of a grocery sack if they want to, as long as they include their name, address, date of birth, signature and either a driver's license number, last four Social Security numbers or a valid picture I.D.
There is nothing in the law about checking a box to verify a qualified voter. The voter's signature is enough, because that's what is checked to send ballots, said Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann, who ran against Brunner in 2006 and is now county chairman for the McCain-Palin campaign. "It's just bald partisanship," he said. "She's trying to disqualify likely McCain voters."
Bronson reports that Obama himself said earlier this month "I Tell You What, It Helps in Ohio That We've Got Democrats in Charge of the Machines." Even if it were in jest Obama knows full well that he is playing to the paranoia of the left when it comes to Ohio and voting.
But Brunner is simply playing old fashioned hardball politics. A judge should recognize that and reinstate those ballots immediately.
And Brunner should dash her resume off to Daley quickly. No doubt hizzoner would see the Secretary of State as a woman after his own heart.
* Clarification: We failed to properly link and attribute the above blockquote to Peter Bronson, a columnist for the Cincinnati Enquirer. American Thinker deeply regrets the oversight and publicly apologizes to Mr. Bronson for our error.
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