Ohio's Brunner Limits Republican Voter Suppression
Ohio's Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, elected in 2006 with pivotal support from the Secretary of State Project, reacted last week to news of aggressive Republican efforts to suppress the vote. Brunner issued a directive to local elections officials indicating that returned mail alone cannot be used as a partisan tool to suppress the vote, and that voters must be given notice to update their records instead of simply being told at the polls that they are ineligible.
Brunner's action does not guarantee that voter suppression will be eliminated. Local officials may disregard her directive, training may be inadequate, and Republican suppression efforts may simply bet on a legal challenge. But the directive does give election monitors and individual voters a tool to resist.
One can be sure that Brunner's predecessor, Ken Blackwell - a hard-right partisan who chaired President Bush's reelection campaign in Ohio - would have taken a very different approach.
Once again, a reminder that electing reformers to the position of Secretary of State is the least expensive way to protect the election.
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