Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell

1 ohio secretary of state

1.1 involvement in 2004 u.s. presidential election

1.1.1 list of legal suits , rulings


1.2 release of ohio social security numbers
1.3 diebold controversies

ohio secretary of state
involvement in 2004 u.s. presidential election

as secretary of state of hotly contested swing state, blackwell played prominent role in 2004 national election. secretary of state, blackwell held position of chief elections officer, overseeing ohio s elections process. in congressional testimony, blackwell stated every republican holder of statewide office in ohio named honorary co-chair of bush campaign, position carried no responsibilities, , previous ohio secretaries of state both parties had held similar honorary positions.

blackwell announced enforce ohio state election law decreeing person appeared @ polling place vote registration not confirmed given provisional ballot; if later determined person had attempted vote in wrong precinct, provisional ballot not counted. directed poll workers refuse distribute provisional ballots unless satisfied voter s residence. democratic party promptly filed lawsuit claiming policy intended disenfranchise minority voters , in violation of federal election law, section 302 of america vote act (hava).

on october 21, 2004, u.s. district court judge james g. carr issued order rejecting blackwell s policy. blackwell said go jail rather comply.

blackwell appealed decision united states court of appeals sixth circuit. on october 26, 2004, court of appeals unanimously affirmed in part , reversed in part. court agreed plaintiffs , district court blackwell s directive violated hava extent empowered poll workers withhold provisional ballot based on on-the-spot determination @ polling place. court ruled, however, if subsequent review concluded voter not entitled vote in precinct, provisional ballot not counted. (pdf) (pdf) in accordance court of appeals ruling, provisional ballots cast in wrong precincts not counted in ohio s 2004 elections.

democratic members of u.s. house committee on judiciary asked blackwell explain irregularities in ohio election in 2 letters, (pdf) (pdf) , requested presence @ public congressional hearing. (pdf) did not attend hearing, responded first letter, refusing comply requests explanation, noting responding requests government accountability office , department of justice. (pdf)

on december 27, 2004, blackwell requested court order protect him being interviewed in moss v. bush case, challenge of presidential vote, , fought subpoena, arguing litigation frivolous.

list of legal suits , rulings

as ohio secretary of state, blackwell has been party many election-related lawsuits. of these include:

moss v. bush; dismissed @ request of plaintiff after certification of electoral votes
beacon journal publishing company, inc. , charlene nevada v. j. kenneth blackwell , board of elections; ohio ordered permit reporters enter polling places during fall 2004 election, notwithstanding ors § 3501.35.(pdf)
lucas county democratic party et al. v. blackwell
the sandusky county democratic party v. j. kenneth blackwell; blackwell forced pay $65,000 in legal fees sandusky county democratic party.
the league of women voters of ohio et al. v. blackwell
miller et al. v. blackwell et al.
spencer v. blackwell
summit county democratic central , executive committee et al. v. blackwell et al.
american broadcasting companies, inc. et al. v. blackwell
state of ohio ex rel. matthew wolf, et al. v. blackwell
sarah white v. j. kenneth blackwell , board of elections of lucas county, ohio
nader et al. v. blackwell
schering v. blackwell
ohio democratic party v. blackwell; upheld in federal appeals court in favor of blackwell
anita rios et al. v. blackwell
state ex. rel david yost et al. v. national voting rights institute et al.

release of ohio social security numbers

on march 1, 2006, blackwell s office accidentally published list of 1.2 million social security numbers of ohio citizens on website along business filings. federal class-action lawsuit filed darrell estep claimed release of data had caused social security number appear 3 times on website. lawsuit settled on march 28, 2006, after numbers removed website, registration process enacted view data , blackwell s office agreed make monthly progress reports court. data part of centralized voter database, required federal law. @ time, blackwell promised retain last 4 digits of social security number in database prevent future problems.

however, on april 26, 2006, blackwell s office disclosed ohio social security numbers again, mailing out computer disks containing names, addresses, , social security numbers of 5.7 million registered voters in ohio (80% of registered voters in state). list released standard practice under freedom of information act , america vote act. blackwell s office apologized, indicating release of social security numbers accidental , attempted recall 20 of disks. @ least 1 recipient of disks has refused comply.

jim petro, republican attorney general of ohio, launched investigation disclosure, citing legal requirement investigate state entity there may risk of loss of private data. blackwell stated considered issue closed, petro disagreed, saying use maximum due diligence ensure data not copied before returned. ohio law requires individuals notified if social security numbers compromised.

diebold controversies

ohio state senator jeff jacobson asked blackwell in july 2003 disqualify diebold election systems bid supply voting machines state, after security problems discovered in software, refused. blackwell had ordered diebold touch screen voting machines, reversing earlier decision state purchase optical scan voting machines which, unlike touch screen devices, leave paper trail recount purposes.

on april 4, 2006, columbus dispatch reported blackwell owned stock [83 shares, down 178 shares purchased in january 2005] in diebold, voting-machine [and atm] manufacturer, @ same time office negotiated deal company. after discovering stock ownership, blackwell promptly sold shares @ loss. attributed purchase unidentified financial manager @ credit suisse first boston said had, without knowledge, violated instructions avoid potential conflict of interest.

when cuyahoga county s primary held on may 2, 2006, officials ordered hand-counting of more 18,000 paper ballots after diebold s new optical scan machines produced inconsistent tabulations, leaving several local races in limbo days , resulting in reversal of outcome of 1 race state representative. blackwell ordered investigation cuyahoga county board of elections; ohio democrats demanded blackwell, due prior role in acquiring diebold equipment status republican gubernatorial candidate in election, recuse himself investigation due conflicts of interest, blackwell did not so.