Brunner’s attention to detail gives Ohio successful election

Even interference by the White House could not deter Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner from her goal: A problem-free general election in Ohio — to restore the state’s national reputation, which had been damaged in 2004.

By any objective standard, the Nov. 4 election was a success. To be sure, there were some glitches, but what’s a glitch when you’re able to shed an image that has haunted you for four years?

In 2004, under the direction of Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio’s presidential election was conducted in such an incompetent fashion that the state became a subject of national scrutiny. There was widespread voter discontent because of long lines caused by an inadequate supply of voting equipment or incompetent poll workers, and questions were raised about Blackwell’s credibility as the state’s top elections official in light of his serving as President George Bush’s honorary co-chairman in Ohio.

Bush’s narrow victory in Ohio gave him a second term in the White House.

But the controversy over the conduct of the 2004 vote did not die down, and in 2006, Democrats, including Brunner, won all but one of the statewide administrative offices.

Brunner’s campaign pledge was powerful and persuasive: Ohio will no longer be the poster child for a flawed presidential election.

The March Democratic primary was her first test: The hotly contested race for the presidential nomination between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was watched closely throughout the country. The primary was conducted just about flawlessly.

Lawsuits

But Republican detractors weren’t buying. Wait until the November general election, they warned. The Republican Party in Ohio tried its best to raise doubts about Brunner’s objectivity and fairness, but despite 13 lawsuits, the secretary of state stuck to the game plan established with the 88 county boards of election. Her office, in conjunction with the elections boards, developed procedures for early voting and election day balloting. By the time the first vote was cast, all the officials were on the same page.

Nonetheless, Republicans attempted to put up roadblocks — but to no avail. In late October, the White House asked the Department of Justice to look into whether 200,000 Ohio voters should have to reconfirm their registrations before Nov. 4 — this after the U.S. Supreme Court had smacked state Republicans down on that very issue.

To her credit, Brunner remained undaunted. Early voting was conducted without any major hiccups, and the voting on election day went off without the scandals that plagued the 2004 election.

But Brunner isn’t done with her plan to make the process of voting as problem-free as possible. A postmortem is to be held next month for elections officials statewide, resulting in a report to the governor and the General Assembly. It will detail what went right and what went wrong Nov. 4.

The secretary of state will also ask the Legis-lature to approve having up to four locations in each county for early voting and to approve a revolving loan fund so local boards of elections can purchase voting equipment.

What happened to the Justice Department’s probe of the 200,000 voters? Nothing. Officials in Washington concluded that the state had followed federal voting laws.

A few days after the election, Jennifer Brunner received a standing ovation at a conference hosted by Impact Ohio in Columbus and attended by veteran politicos, lobbyists and others involved in politics.

It was well deserved.