OHIO Counties aim to take votes from Nader

Election boards have three options for removing his name.
TOLEDO (AP) -- County elections directors around Ohio are trying to make sure Ralph Nader doesn't get any votes on Election Day, all the while hoping their decisions don't open them to legal challenges.
Some elections boards are reprinting ballots following Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's decision to keep the consumer advocate off the Nov. 2 ballot because of forged signatures on petition forms and petitions circulated by non-Ohioans left him short of the 5,000 required to qualify.
Other counties plan to leave Nader's name on the ballot and put up signs at polling places warning that a vote for the independent won't be counted.
Plans to appeal
Miami and Clermont counties will continue with plans to print ballots with Nader's name because they fear that if he wins a challenge to get on the ballot, they won't have enough time to put his name back on. The Nader campaign said Friday that it is planning to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.
In addition to altering the Election Day ballots, election directors also are making changes to absentee ballots.
Blackwell told county election boards this week they have three options for removing Nader's name:
UReprint the ballots.
UPlace stickers over Nader's name or use another method to block it.
UPost a notice informing voters that any vote cast for Nader will not be counted.
There could, however, be problems with those options.
Stickers placed over the name on optical scan ballots could come off in vote-counting machines that read pencil marks made next to voters' choice. The stickers could jam the machines used in 12 of 88 counties.
James Lee, a spokesman for the Secretary of State's office, said Friday that those counties are aware or will be made aware of the potential problems with the stickers.
Instead, they should use the other two options, he said.
But posting a sign at polling places is the least desirable option, said Keith Cunningham, elections director in Allen County, because it could leave elections boards vulnerable to a challenge.
"It's most likely in that scenario votes will be cast for Ralph Nader," he said. "The argument then becomes who would those votes have gone to."
Won't count
Allen County, which uses optical scan ballots, is sending its Election Day ballots to the printer next week without Nader's name.
But its absentee ballots include the independent candidate's name and will be mailed with a notice informing that Nader's votes will not be counted.
"This election has been jostled and shaken about so much with legal maneuverings," Cunningham said. "We're trying our best to keep it smooth."
Cuyahoga County will reprint about 11,000 absentee ballots while Geauga County will include a note with its absentee ballots.
Geauga County also will reprint Election Day ballots that were finished for 10 of its 96 precincts, said county elections director Arch Kimbrew.
"We thought it was best to take his name off completely," he said.
A Dayton company that prints ballots for a number of Ohio counties has advised elections directors to keep Nader on the ballot in case he files a challenge to get on the ballot.
"There's no way to put him back on if he gets reinstated," said Dave Keeler, president of Dayton Legal Blank. "Mr. Nader has had a successful track record of getting his name back on the ballot."
The state Supreme Court in Wisconsin decided Thursday to allow Nader back on the ballot, overturning a lower court ruling.
Should Nader win a challenge to get on the ballot yet have his name left off in some counties, a lawsuit would likely follow, Keeler said.
"Our advice is based on logistics," Keeler said.
Lucas County's elections board on Friday decided to pull Nader's name off the ballot and scrap about 74,000 Election Day ballots that were already printed even though it will cost the county.
Board member Bernadette Noe said reprinting the ballots was the best option.