Sen. Jacobson should test Mahoning's voting system

In the past, the Mahoning County Board of Elections has drawn statewide attention because of allegations of voting improprieties or other questionable practices. But now there's an opportunity to not only demonstrate that a new era has dawned at the elections board but to establish Mahoning County as a leader in voting innovation in Ohio.
Hence, we invite the two antagonists in the state battle over Ohio's voting system to visit Youngstown and use the county's electronic voting system as the backdrop for their debate. Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell and state Sen. Jeff Jacobson, R-Dayton, are at odds over a federal government mandate to upgrade the nation's voting system by the 2004 presidential election.
Blackwell, as Ohio's chief elections officer, has a plan that would give counties that now use punch-card ballots a choice between electronic touch screen voting machines, similar to those used in Mahoning County, or optical scanners, which Mahoning County previously used.
There are 69 counties that would be affected, and they stand to share in the $150 million Ohio is receiving from the $3.9 billion Congress appropriated for the national voting system upgrade.
Training workers
But Jacobson has thrown a legislative monkey wrench in the works. He contends that that county boards of elections don't feel they have enough time to train poll workers in using the new equipment.
Based on Mahoning County's experience both with the touch screen system and the optical scanners, we would suggest to the senator that this isn't rocket science.
Indeed, several months ago, elections officials from a dozen Ohio counties came to Youngstown and received a crash course on the electronic voting system, for which Mahoning County paid $2.9 million. They were impressed.
That said, we continue to insist that Ohio has a responsibility to reimburse the county for the outlay, not only because it showed initiative in adopting a new system but because the system has now become a guide for the entire state.
Blackwell says that although he doubts Mahoning County could recover the entire amount, the board of elections may be eligible for some of the federal money to upgrade the system.
However, seeing as how the secretary of state's position in his battle with Jacobson will be greatly enhanced once the advantages and the simplicity of electronic voting are made known to legislators and others, we think a show of appreciation -- $2.9 million -- on his part is justified.
Political ploy?
News reports emanating from Columbus suggest there's more to this clash between Blackwell and Jacobson than just a difference of opinion as to whether poll workers in Ohio have the ability to learn to operate relatively simple voting systems. But the next Republican contest for governor, when Bob Taft will be term-limited out, should have no bearing on what a major state like Ohio must do to avoid a replay of the 2000 presidential election when the punch-card voting system in Florida resulted in hanging chads and U.S. Supreme Court intervention.
Jacobson has added an amendment to the $48.8 billion budget bill the General Assembly passed last week requiring Blackwell to apply for a waiver from the federal government to push back the deadline for compliance with the Help America Vote Act until after the November 2004 election. The amendment also prohibits the secretary of state from breaking tie votes at the 88 county boards of elections if the dispute is related to the act.
A line-item veto by the governor is justified.
As for the senator, a test of the Mahoning County voting system would be enlightening and educational.