Secretary of state pledges reliable voting results

WARREN — Ohio’s secretary of state plans to spend nearly $1.8 million to test Ohio’s various types of voting equipment this fall, as well as improve other aspects of the state’s voting system.

These measures are meant to ensure that when the presidential primary of March 2008 comes, the state can be sure that it is providing the rest of the nation with reliable voting results, Jennifer Brunner said Wednesday.

“Ohio should be pivotal again,” Bruner, a Democrat, said of the next presidential election.

In the 2004 election, questions were raised about whether some minority voters in Ohio were kept from voting because of moves made by then-secretary of state Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican. Questions have also been raised about whether the electronic voting equipment used in most Ohio counties is safe from manipulation and hacking.

Bruner, who was making a stop at the Trumbull County Board of Elections as part of a plan to visit all 88 elections boards, said uniform poll worker training throughout the state is also among her priorities.

For more, see Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com