Press release from the National Republican Congressional Committee:
Washington - Unbeknownst to voters who cast their ballots in good faith in the race for Ohio’s 15th Congressional District, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is working to undermine the principle of free and fair elections by changing the rules by which votes are counted after the votes were cast. In a transparently partisan act, Brunner has advised county boards of election to allow for the counting of ballots already invalidated by state law.
Brunner has issued an opinion advising Boards of Election to count provisional ballots cast by voters who failed to properly complete their ballot as required under state law. Despite state law to the contrary, Brunner is directing election boards to count these fatally flawed ballots, suggesting the defective and incomplete ballots somehow result from poll worker errors. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, who is prosecuting a man who fraudulently signed at least ten absentee ballots, understands that a voter’s signature is the very basis for a valid ballot, even if Brunner and Kilroy do not:
“‘Anyone who thinks that a signature is not necessary to detect or prosecute voter fraud is not living in the real world.’” (Columbus Dispatch, 11/19/08)
“A fundamental cornerstone to fair elections is that consistent and inalterable rules govern throughout the process,” said NRCC spokesman Ken Spain. “Rather than allowing the vote counting process to proceed according to law and to the rules established prior to Election Day, Democrats are sensing Kilroy’s defeat again, and are attempting to change the rules to save her skin. By counting ballots that Ohio law had previously deemed invalid, Brunner is inserting political cronyism into what should be a fair and dispassionate process.”
