Friday, October 24, 2008
COLUMBUS (AP) — A man has been charged in Columbus with making a death threat against Ohio’s top elections official.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol says 51-year-old Dana McArtor of Columbus was charged Friday with intimidation in a threat phoned last week to the office of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
Brunner spokesman Jeff Ortega says the phone call came last Friday and the caller threatened to kill Brunner.
Her office says it has been inundated with threats amid a busy pre-election season of voter lawsuits and alleged registration irregularities. Brunner, a Democrat, was elected in 2006 on a platform critical of Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell’s election oversight.
McArtor was jailed to await arraignment on Saturday.
A message was left at a phone listing for the address on his court record. The record doesn’t mention a defense attorney.