Giuliani criticizes voting decision

By Marc Kovac

Republicans have said it was not the intent of the law to allow voter registration and early ballot casting in the same day.

COLUMBUS — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined the continuing chorus of Republican criticism aimed at Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and her decision to disallow observers from early voting sites.

“The Democratic Party here in Ohio wants to conduct secret balloting in a general election,” the former presidential hopeful told an audience near Columbus on Saturday afternoon. “You can’t do that. This is part of a general election. The question is, what do they have to hide?”

Giuliani spoke to upward of 200 Republican Party leaders from across the state during a leadership summit, aimed at bolstering campaign efforts entering the final month before the November general election. He then joined former Republican Attorneys General Betty Montgomery and Jim Petro and Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine during a press conference spotlighting directives issued by Brunner on the same-day voter registration/absentee ballot issue.

The deadline to register to vote is Monday. Under a new state law that went into effect in 2006, eligible voters have been able to request, obtain and cast absentee ballots since last Tuesday. So, during the past week, residents could attempt to complete both processes at the same time.

Republicans have said it was not the intent of the law to allow voter registration and early ballot casting in the same day. They believe the setup opens the door to election fraud, potentially allowing individuals to vote multiple times or use the names of dead people in order to cast ballots.

Brunner disagreed and directed county boards to develop procedures to allow same-day registration/voting but to require residents who do so to cast their ballots on paper, thus providing a means for their later removal if they are ruled ineligible to participate in the election. The Supreme Court subsequently sided with the secretary of state on the registration/absentee voting issue.

In a related matter, Republicans have filed suit hoping to allow observers in early voting locations to witness the registration and voting processes. Brunner’s office has stated that Ohio law does not make provisions for observers at early voting sites and that bipartisan elections workers were well-equipped and able to protect the integrity of the voting process.

In a statement released late Friday, Brunner said, “I believe the Republican and Democratic elections officials in Ohio have the training, diligence and professionalism to observe and administer in-person absentee voting. Observers are allowed and encouraged during the critical phases of opening, processing and counting absentee ballots. There is transparency in the system, given the limitations of current Ohio law.”

She added, “Fair administering of elections first requires attention to the law. In this instance, I am not philosophically opposed to observers during in-person absentee voting, but the Legislature simply has not given me the authority to require that action.”

DeWine said the Republican Party will continue to press the issue, however. A lawsuit was filed Friday seeking to allow observers at early-voting sites.

“The hallmarks of any good election process are transparency and openness and fairness,” DeWine said. “And observers play a key role in the process. ... We will continue to fight on this case. We will continue to fight on this cause.”

Giuliani, citing Ohio’s battleground status and likely importance in the presidential race, said observers should be allowed because “the last thing that you want is any kind of taint on that election process. ... It would seem to me, whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you’d be interested in having really fair results here. .... I can’t imagine why you’d want to be on the side of trying to keep the process as hidden as possible as opposed to as open as possible.”

He added, “I can’t imagine why you’d want to keep them out. I can’t imagine why the Democratic secretary of state doesn’t endorse that. I can’t imagine why the Democratic Party doesn’t embrace that. The only thing I can wonder is what it is that you think you’re going to be doing that you don’t want people to see.”

mkovac@dixcom.com.