It's evident the going's gotten tough when Republicans pull out all the stops and it's not even November. Even Karl Rove is beyond the most recent Ohio political soap opera that involves Ted Strickland, two residences and an angry old woman from East Liverpool who's rooting for Kenneth Blackwell.
Jacquelyn Long filed a complaint against gubernatorial candidate Strickland challenging his eligibility to vote in Columbiana County where he is registered for his Lisbon, Ohio, residence. Long, a Strickland constituent, contends that he does not in fact reside in his Lisbon apartment but rather in a condominium in Columbus, Ohio, and therefore should not be entitled to vote.
Public records do indeed show that Strickland and his spouse bought a Columbus condominium in April 2003, claiming it as their primary residence in order to receive the 2.5 percent property tax break. The issue of where Strickland's principle residence is, however, has little bearing on his voter eligibility in a state that allows flexibility to voters with multiple homes so long as the residence is intended to be permanent (Ohio law R.C. 3503.02).
Strickland did make it clear in 2003 that his Lisbon apartment would serve as his official residence when he was not in Washington, D.C. Strickland has been registered to vote and has voted in Columbiana County since he was elected as the district's congressional member in 2002.
The complaint reached the Columbiana County Board of Elections Oct. 12 where it tied 2-2 along party lines. The secretary of state typically decides tied cases, however, this situation is further complicated by the current secretary of state's gubernatorial candidacy.
Blackwell has stated that all campaign-related issues will be passed on to his deputy secretary of state. Is this sufficient given his deputy is a political supporter indebted to Blackwell for a number of things, among them his current position?
There's another catch: Strickland may be disqualified from the gubernatorial race if he is found ineligible to vote. With the voter registration deadline past, Strickland's candidacy is endangered and Blackwell's office is capable of tossing him out on a mere technicality that even the best legal experts are scrambling to solve.
Debates on partisan politicking aside, the answer to this difficult negotiation of party lines and political duties lies in a restructuring of Ohio's Board of Elections system. Rather than refer cases with ties and other complex issues to the Office of the Secretary of State, Ohio would be better served with the implementation of a bipartisan state board of elections, one that would be prepared to handle the most sensitive of cases, cases such as this one in which there is a clear division along party lines and a severe conflict of interest. A proposal from the Reform Ohio Now initiative, which has been on the Ohio ballot in the past, calls for the establishment of such a state Board of Elections in which nine members are nominated from each of the three branches of Ohio state government.
The most sacred of democratic institutions - the act of voting - should be conducted as separate from partisan politicking as possible. Such a balanced, multi-party board would enhance the credibility and administration of elections in the state.
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