Senators: Blackwell must resign
By David Cross  Ohio State University Lantern
Published: Wednesday, October 6, 2004
The debate over provisional ballots in Ohio heated up yesterday when Cuyahoga County election officials said they will be defying Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's provisional ballot directive and will give provisional ballots to every person that asks for one, the Cleveland Plain Dealer said.

Blackwell's interpretations of electoral law may disenfranchise college students, according to a statement by the Ohio Democratic Party released on Sept. 30 by State Senators Teresa Fedor and C. J. Prentiss.

In a separate statement issued the same day, several Ohio Democratic Senators called for the immediate resignation of Secretary Blackwell, stating in a letter addressed to Blackwell that he has been "unresponsive to the needs of Ohio's voters" and has "failed to uphold (his) duties as chief elections officer."

Along with Fedor and Prentiss, state senators Marc Dann and Robert Hagan signed the letter.

Blackwell's directive to only issue provisional ballots under strict conditions could disenfranchise low-income, African Americans, Latinos and college students, according to the statement by Fedor and Prentiss.

"He is corrupting our election system," Fedor told The Lantern, one of four state senators who signed the letter asking for Blackwell's resignation.

In Fedor's and Prentiss's statement, they gave five reasons outlining why they believe Blackwell should resign.

According to the statement, these reasons include: confusion surrounding the paper weight of registration forms, a provisional ballot directive that will disenfranchise voters, misinforming ex-felons on their voting rights, spending over $15 million on voter education, which Fedor accuses Blackwell of using to propel his own career, and ongoing uncertainty on purged Ohio voter registration rolls.

"All of these I think are confusing to voters," said Paul Beck a professor of political science at Ohio State, who said voters who do not vote often and do not have a high motivation to vote could be turned off by the complexity of the situation.

Of the five reasons Fedor and Prentiss' letter gave, the two that most affect college students are registration-form paper weight and provisional ballots.

In a Sept. 7 letter to all county board of elections officials, that has since been clarified, Blackwell instructed all county board of elections officials to only except voter registration forms on "white, uncoated paper of not less than 80 pounds."

Forms filed, not on the minimum paperweight, were considered an application for a registration form. Election board officials were instructed to mail an appropriate form to the applicant.

This led to confusion among elections officials on whether to keep, throw out or accept registration forms.

In a separate letter by Roberts to Blackwell, dated Aug. 26, Roberts expressed his concerns about the "implementation of the federal Help Americans Vote Act."

In the letter, Hagan said the act "requires first-time voters who registered by mail after January 1, 2004 to verify their identity before voting by producing acceptable identifications." He also said the act ensures first-time voters can still vote if they do not bring identification with them, through provisional ballots.

Provisional ballots can also be issued to individuals who are registered to vote but did not appear on the voter registration list, due to error.

In the letter, Hagan requested Blackwell respond to questions regarding why his "office concluded that provisional ballots will not be counted if the ballot is cast in the wrong precinct, even if the correct precinct is only a short distance away."

Ohio Democrats filed a federal lawsuit on Sept. 27 in Toledo, against Blackwell's directive to Ohio election officials to not issue provisional ballots to people who find themselves outside their precinct.

Fedor said this interpretation of the act is wrong and provisional ballots should be given to people who find themselves in the wrong precinct.

"We are standing up and speaking to make sure every registered voter can vote," Fedor said.

A call to Blackwell's office was not returned.