# Election Shenanigans in Ohio **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 29, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691 "2004-09-29T17:44:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/1 "2004-09-29T17:44:41Z")
I was going to pit Ken Blackwell, the Ohio Secretary of State, [but this story is changing by the hour.](http://www.columbusdispatch.com/election/election-local.php?story=dispatch/2004/09/29/20040929-A1-01.html) It’s actually looking like good news for Democrats in this key battleground state. To recap: "Under fire from voting-rights advocates, Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell retreated yesterday from a directive that critics said would slow voter-registration efforts and even block some people from casting a ballot Nov. 2. At issue is a reminder Blackwell issued this month to county boards of election that voter-registration forms must be printed on “white, uncoated paper of not less than 80-pound text weight,” a heavy, cardlike stock. While the Franklin County Board of Elections and others have continued accepting forms submitted on lighter-weight paper, some county elections officials said yesterday they have been disqualifying registrations because the paper was not thick enough. " and earlier ["Thousands of Ohio voters are at risk of not having their ballots counted on Election Day under state guidelines for handling provisional ballots, critics of those rules say.](http://www.columbusdispatch.com/election/election-local.php?story=dispatch/2004/09/25/20040925-A1-02.html) ‘It’s a huge issue,’ said Daniel P. Tokaji, a voting-rights lawyer and assistant professor of law at Ohio State University. Provisional voting allows properly registered voters to cast ballots even when their names don’t appear on registration rolls at the polls because they moved or they were left off. Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell recently issued a directive to county election officials saying they are allowed to count provisional ballots only from voters who go to the correct polling location for their home address. Voting-rights groups had pushed for a more liberal directive allowing votes for at least the presidential and statewide offices to be counted, even if a voter casts a provisional ballot in the wrong precinct." ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/2 "2004-09-29T18:28:45Z")
Just to stir the pot (I hope), is Mr. Blackwell a Democrat or a Repbulican? Are most of the “unacceptable” forms coming in from Republican areas, or “suspected hotbeds of Democrat activity”? ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/3 "2004-09-29T18:33:54Z")
Mr. Blackwell is a Republican, an African-American, and a former City Councilman (I think) in Cincinnati. The wild increase in forms and registration appears to be largely Democratic. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/4 "2004-09-29T18:34:31Z")
> [@Fessie](#): > > I was going to pit Ken Blackwell, the Ohio Secretary of State, but this story is changing by the hour. It’s actually looking like good news for Democrats in this key battleground state. You were _going to_ pit him, but because what he did might turn out okay for Democrats, you won’t? I mean damn. I guess I won’t pit Indian Hater Jackson anymore. I mean, the Indians have casinos now. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/5 "2004-09-29T18:38:11Z")
Oh, calm down - I didn’t pit him b/c he rescinded his earlier stand. So it would hardly be fair to slam the man for something he took back - although the damage may well have already been done (in some areas). The fact that the overall picture looks good for Democrats is a sidebar - if you follow the links that will become apparent. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/6 "2004-09-29T18:39:03Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > You were _going to_ pit him, but because what he did might turn out okay for Democrats, you won’t? I mean damn. I guess I won’t pit Indian Hater Jackson anymore. I mean, the Indians have casinos now. Well, pit away, because Gov. Arnold wants to tax the casinos. I figure, we took their whole country, let 'em have their casinos and money for themselves. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/7 "2004-09-29T20:15:32Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Well, pit away, because Gov. Arnold wants to tax the casinos. I figure, we took their whole country, let 'em have their casinos and money for themselves. 🙂 Hmmmm … how 'bout instead of a state tax, we put a federal tax on the casinos, and use the money to fund the BIA? Would that be ultimate in “cold”? Actually, no it wouldn’t. The ultimate would be to promise the above, but then just throw the money into the general fund anyway. It would certainly be consistent with government-Indian relations of the last few centuries. ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/8 "2004-09-29T23:03:54Z")
Speaking of good news for the Democrats… [Blackwell has ordered Nader off the Ohio ballot](http://www.dispatch.com/election/election-president.php?story=dispatch/2004/09/29/20040929-A1-00.html). ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/9 "2004-09-29T23:12:25Z")
> [@PigBoy](#): > > Speaking of good news for the Democrats… [Blackwell has ordered Nader off the Ohio ballot](http://www.dispatch.com/election/election-president.php?story=dispatch/2004/09/29/20040929-A1-00.html). That one actually surprised me. The man is no Katherine Harris. My respect for him just went up a notch, since I assume he had to be making a principled, versus political, decision. (And yes, he was formerly a Cincinnati council member, IIRC) ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/10 "2004-09-29T23:15:07Z")
More info on Blackwell, from his website: > [@](#): > > Mr. Blackwell’s public service includes terms as Mayor of Cincinnati, an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, and Treasurer of the State of Ohio. He is currently a vice president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, a member of the board of directors of the Campaign Finance Institute in Washington, D.C., a member of the Advisory Panel of the Federal Elections Commission, and a member of the board of directors of the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs (Ashland University). He is president of the National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council, a member of the Harvard Policy Group on Network-Enabled Services and Government, and a member of the Advisory Board of The Princeton Review. Note that Mayor of Cincinnati used to be “Council member elected with the most votes”. Now the mayor is elected directly. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/11 "2004-09-29T23:51:40Z")
The other thing the Mayor used to be is Jerry Springer. (now I’m glad I held off on pitting Ken Blackwell - that’s quite a development) ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-shenanigans-in-ohio/266691/12 "2004-09-30T02:17:25Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > The other thing the Mayor used to be is Jerry Springer. Forgive the hijack, but have you now brought up the two halves of the 2006 gubernatorial election? Jerry Springer vs. Kenneth Blackwell? I think I’ve heard that matchup as a possibility, but I’d be interested to know if anyone thinks it will be the case. CINCINNATI MAYOR FIGHT!!!