Candidate unveils plan to fight election fraud

The candidate spent a year developing the plan.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Republican nominee for Ohio secretary of state wants to toughen the laws involving election and voter registration fraud.
Greg Hartmann, Hamilton County clerk of courts, unveiled a 20-point plan Friday that he intends to implement if he wins the Nov. 7 general election.
Hartmann wants to increase the felony level for fraudulent voter registration.
Violators would face a maximum jail sentence of 18 months -- six more months than the current maximum for election fraud.
He also wants to strengthen the investigatory capabilities to combat election fraud by using two Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & amp; Investigation agents for that sole purpose.
During the past year, Hartmann has met with voters and those who deal with the secretary of state's office on the election and business sides to develop the plan.
Hartmann also wants to upgrade the office's Web site to make it easier to use.
He also wants to improve communication between the office and members of county boards of elections.
Hartmann said J. Kenneth Blackwell, a fellow Republican who's served as the secretary for the past eight years and is the party's gubernatorial candidate, has done positive things for the office.
Those improvements include providing needed forms on the office's Web site, he said. But Hartmann said he intends to place more forms online.
"More can be done," he said.
Looming contest
Hartmann will face Democrat Jennifer Brunner, who resigned as a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge to run for the seat, in the November general election.
Brunner placed her plan for the office if elected on her Web site early this year, said Patrick Gallaway, her campaign spokesman.
"She's glad to find out what [Hartmann's] plan is now," Gallaway said. "We haven't known for quite some time what his plan is."
Brunner agrees with a number of Hartmann's points, but there are some that concern her, Gallaway said.
Hartmann wants to "standardize and codify precinct official training on Ohio election law and voting procedures."
The word "codify" concerns Brunner because that is something that can't be done without the approval of the state Legislature, Gallaway said.
skolnick@vindy.com