"(Cuyahoga County) Ballots will be closely guarded"

[Algorem]

Plans leave no gaps in their handling
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Eben O. (Sandy) McNair
(McNair is a member of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections)

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/othercolumns/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1204623167137820.xml&coll=2

Two business days before Ohio's critical presidential primary elec tion, The Plain Dealer published on this page an article by Paul S. Herrnson, a political scientist specializing in voting systems. He opined that those of us on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections who voted to switch from touch screen voting machines to centrally counted paper ballot/optical scan voting made a "very poor trade."

Unfortunately, Herrnson makes his pronouncement based upon generalities and, apparently, without taking the time or the effort to analyze either the specific reasons given by those board members who voted for this change, or the specific procedures and processes this agency put in place to implement the new voting system.

Herrnson cites problems associated with the Diebold touch screen voting machines. Computer experts found the possibility that the machines could be hacked. In fact, the problems with the Diebold/Premier system in Cuyahoga County went far beyond this issue.


Those problems, in general, were continuous, changing and random. They included the following:...



http://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/en-US/board-members-staff.aspx

Board Members & Staff
Board Members


The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections consists of four members each appointed to a four-year term by the Secretary of State. The board has two Democratic Party and two Republican Party members.

Jeff Hastings
Jeff Hastings, Chairman

Republican Party...




Eben O. (Sandy) McNair, IV, Member

Democratic Party

Mr. McNair received his B.A. from St. Lawrence University with a double major in Philosophy and History. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Chicago’s Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and Study of Methods. He received his J.D. from Cornell University. Since 1980, he has represented public and private sector labor unions, employee benefit plans and individuals in employment related matters. He is an attorney with Schwarzwald & McNair, LLP and a Democratic precinct committee person and City Leader for Brecksville.



Ohio, especially Cleveland, under scrutiny for voting problems

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-2/120463765131720.xml&storylist=cleveland

3/4/2008, 8:26 a.m. EST
By THOMAS J. SHEERAN
The Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) — With a surprisingly large role to play in the Democratic presidential race late in the primary season, Ohio had the daunting job Tuesday of running an election with new systems in many locations, particularly trouble-prone Cleveland.

In Cuyahoga County, which was ordered in December to make a fast-track switch from touch-screen voting to paper ballots, poll worker Bill Hallock in suburban Westlake said the printed ballots were easier for voters to understand, although they took a little longer to fill out.

"It was way more easy to vote," said Acy Streeter, 51, who voted in Cleveland. "All you have to do is blacken the oval under the candidate."...


Cuyahoga is counting its votes in one location, a former department store warehouse, instead of at each precinct, a move that prevents voters from being alerted if their ballots are improperly filled out. (?)

___

On the Net:

Cuyahoga County Board of Elections: http://boe.cuyahogacounty.us








Run, Hillary, Run! (?)

By Ken Blackwell (?)

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/03/04/run,_hillary,_run!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Comments (20)

Hillary Clinton might win Ohio on Tuesday, and Texas may essentially be a tie. But even if she loses both, she should continue her campaign. If she does, she may well beat Barack Obama for the nomination.

I am the last person who would give advice to Mrs. Clinton, and would not vote for either her or Mr. Obama. But someone needs to point out the obvious. I was inspired by the encouragement Forrest Gump received from his childhood friend, Jenny, who cheered him on with, “Run, Forrest! Run!”

The obvious fact is that Barack Obama is manifestly ill equipped to be commander-in-chief. It is not just that he lacks the knowledge and experience to lead our military or leverage American prestige on the world stage. He also lacks the wary eye towards possible danger—the vigilant stand on the ramparts—that we need in every president.

Americans saw this as recently as last week, when President Bush had to publicly admonish Mr. Obama for the senator saying that as president he would meet with Raul Castro without preconditions. The president had to explain to the inexperienced senator how such meetings would strengthen Castro, embolden his oppressive regime, and demoralize people in Cuba and around the world as to whether America stands ready to help them win their freedom...