The New Wave of Election Petitions in Ohio
May 26, 2008
Thanks to the Columbus Dispatch for this article that details the way in which the citizens of Ohio will work to put initiatives on the ballot in the years to come.
The new system uses a “digital pen” that captures signatures electronically on special paper. It transmits them to a BlackBerry, which, in turn, sends the information to a computer, where the signatures and accompanying details are checked visually against a statewide voter-registration database maintained by county boards of elections.
This new system will allow petition organizers to electronically verify valid signatures. This will prevent ballot initiatives from failing due to a lack of signatures after a review finds many to be invalid.
The company piloting this program, the Ohio Petition Co., is taking on a big contract for its first initiative. The company will be collecting signatures to ensure that the Ohio Health Families Act, which you can read more about here, gets to be voted up or down by Ohio voters after an incompetent Ohio legistature has continued to drag its feet on this issue.
The system is adapted from PenVote, a Columbus startup company that is promoting use of the technology to replace voting machines. It uses an electronic pen about the size of a fat fountain pen. When someone writes on the paper, a miniature camera in the pen reads the handwriting in relation to tiny dots imprinted on the paper. It then transmits a signal to reproduce the handwriting on a computer screen. The pens cost about $250 each.
Do you think this is the wave of the future?
Columbus Suburb Going Green
May 26, 2008
Westerville, a surburb on Columbus’ north side, has decided to resurrect a plan to allow city residents to buy more environmentally sound forms of energy, including wind and hydro. The plan was passed approximately four years ago, but was never promoted because energy prices continued to increase.
According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch, the additional cost to residents of Westerville would be approximately $13 per month.
I’m a Westerville resident and would be more than happy to pay the increase. Now this is an example of Ohio politics functioning as it should.
Does Strickland Favor Looser Gun Laws?
May 21, 2008
I have to admit that I was pretty shocked when I read this Columbus Dispatch article.
A push by the National Rifle Association to loosen a number of state gun laws is drawing heavy criticism from prosecutors and a variety of law-enforcement groups who argue it will make them and the public less safe.
“It seems clear to the law-enforcement community in Ohio that it is the intent of some to do a ‘jam job’ on these extremely important issues,” Mark Drum, a lobbyist for the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, wrote recently to Rep. John J. White, R-Kettering, chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee.
When Bob Taft, a Republican, was governor, he gave law enforcement a big say in whether Ohio gun laws should be changed, but now the NRA has a rock-solid friend in Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.
He is not concerned that his support for the gun proposal goes against police officers, police chiefs and county sheriffs, a spokesman said. “As a gun-rights supporter, the governor believes these are reasonable and appropriate protections for gun owners,” Keith Dailey, the governor’s spokesman, said, referring to the NRA-backed proposals.
The article goes on to describe what these new ammendments would do.
Among its changes, the bill would let anyone carry a gun in a vehicle, regardless of whether they have a concealed-carry license. The gun would have to be unloaded and in a case, which could be unlocked.
Hanson said current law, which generally says that non-licensees must transport guns in a trunk or locked case, has been “chewed up beyond recognition” by police officers and the courts.
Law-enforcement groups say the proposal makes it too easy for someone in a vehicle to load a gun. They also say the plan would let people carry rifles and sawed-off shotguns in their vehicles.
The State Highway Patrol, which has been very vocal in the past about concerns over guns in vehicles, is now, under Strickland, declining to talk about the issue.
Some additional NRA-backed changes:
• A sheriff could not consider a sealed or expunged conviction in the background check of an applicant for a concealed-carry license.
• The penalty would be reduced for a concealed-carry licensee who had failed to notify law enforcement that he or she was carrying a gun, if the officer or dispatcher knew the person had a gun license.
Landlords would be prohibited from barring tenants from keeping handguns.
• Law enforcement would be prohibited from seizing legally owned firearms in a period of emergency.
Does Strickland want to take Ohio back to the Wild West?
Clinton Wins Big in Kentucky
May 20, 2008
The fat lady has yet to sing in this democratic party. Although things don’t look great for Clinton in terms of the nomination, hundreds of thousands of people keep turning out in state after state to vote for Clinton even though we keep being told its over for her.
Many political pundits continue to pontificate as to why she continues with this fight. Some say she is just power hungry and some think that she is perhaps just delusional.
However, what is really happening is that Clinton is keeping her word to the millions of voters across this country that aren’t happy with Obama and that have continued to support her race after race. She is truly an inspirational political figure.
Pay-Day Loan Sharks Out of Buisness in Ohio
May 19, 2008
Much debate has centered around the practices of the so-called pay-day lenders. These are the little stores that you often see in shopping centers around Ohio that offer customers a loan guaranteed by their pay check. Many people throughout the country are facing very hard economic times. In these times, many have turned to these companies to make it through until the next pay day arrives.
As we have all heard, the problem presents itself when the customers cannot afford to pay back the loan. John Doe may need $250 to be able to afford to live and borrows that money from one of these centers. He is given a loan and charged interest. Too many times he then must take a second loan to pay back the first, and thus the dangerous cycle begins.
It has been reported that interest rates can soar to as much as 310%. Can you imagine? It is like a black hole from which you could never escape.
To confront these problems, the Ohio House and Senate have both passed bills to regulate these companies out of business. Is that the right answer? Where will these people go when they need to borrow money in the future? Do we allow them to just starve? Or continue to be delinquent on their bills each month? What happens to the jobs of all of the employees that work for these companies? Do the employees turn to food stamps and other forms of welfare?
I’m not sure what the answer is to this problem. I believe that perhaps a smarter thing for the state of Ohio to have done could have been to set a limit on the amount of interest that these companies could charge. What do you think?
Election Day Holiday
May 19, 2008
Today’s Columbus Dispatch details plans by many central Ohio school districts to give students the day off on election day, Nov. 4, 2008.
According to the article, this will be the first day off that most students have had for a general election in recent history.
Traffic in the parking lot and in the hallways can get congested, which could pose a problem during dismissal times, Hibbert said. And children might not be able to use the gym or cafeteria if polling booths are placed there.
Some states have recognized the concern: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia close some or all of their schools for elections, says the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a national clearinghouse created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
In schools that host polls, officials said they review safety plans to keep the crowds from becoming a distraction. They try to limit access to the buildings and ensure that school entrances feed directly into polling areas.
In my opinion, it would be a far better opportunity to have students in school learning about this process. Schools generally can accommodate having large crowds as they often do during sporting events, pep rallies, and theater productions. Voters are kept away from students and the odds of them commingling are not very high.
We should engage our students in this process and not teach them that it is another day stay home.
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner Encourages High Schoolers to Vote
May 17, 2008
According to the Columbus Dispatch, Jennifer Brunner returned to her alma mater, Whetstone High School in Clintonville to discuss the importance of voting to graduating seniors.
Brunner has been a somewhat controversial figure in Ohio politics as of late with regards to her push to return to paper ballots in some instances. I have found myself disagreeing with her on that issue and some others, but I couldn’t be more happy with her promoting this great program.
The Grads Vote 2008 program, “The Ultimate Civics Lesson” encourages students to register to vote and to exercise this right. Through this program, Brunner not only encourages recent graduates to vote, but to also become poll workers and to get involved in choosing those that will lead our cities, states, and nation.
“Graduating from high school is a rite of passage, and being able to vote and have a voice in your democracy is a rite of passage,” Brunner said yesterday. “We’re putting those two important things together.”
Brunner started the project as a pilot program in five counties last year and expanded it to all 88 this spring.
Grads Vote 2008 packets have been sent to 1,032 high schools. They include a letter signed by Brunner, Gov. Ted Strickland and Ohio schools Superintendent Susan T. Zelman.
I whole-heartedly applaud this effort by Secretary of State Brunner. To learn more about the program, visit this site.
Exposed Prejudices in the State Highway Patrol
May 13, 2008
I really hadn’t given this story the attention that it deserved when it initially occurred. According to the Columbus Dispatch, two state highway patrol officers were suspended, and later fired, for a “klan prank.”
A patrol investigation found that Franklin put a white cone on his head and donned a white mask and white cloth the day before Martin Luther King Day. Wlodarsky took a photo that he forwarded on his cell phone.
I can already hear that many will say that it was just a joke, or that the punishment does not fit the crime. Is it not their constitutional right of free speech or some other right to act or say moronic, offensive, or even hateful things? Perhaps.
But when in Ohio are we going to get serious about our elected officials and other entities that represent the government (i.e. highway patrol) behaving in a way that is fitting of their job and the public trust that they hold? We recently finally moved beyond a corrupt governor who should probably be serving time, we have a corrupt (to say the least) attorney general who now refuses to resign, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Driving around predominately “white neighborhoods’ in central Ohio, it always amazes me to notice who the cops are pulling over. I’ve not done any type of formal study, but suffice it to say, it seems like there are a lot of African Americans getting pulled over and I doubt that is due to coincidence.
Dispatch Columnist Anne Fisher Characterizes Attorney General Marc Dann
May 11, 2008
He still seems unwilling to resign and we still are keeping the pressure on him to do so. In her blog, Ann Fisher describes Dann:
Dann is not stupid. He’s arrogant, rude and unrepentant. I’ve previously characterized him as a petulant little troll and a blustering bully. He’s a dangerous man because he has no respect for anybody or anything other than himself. He believes that he is above the law. Stupidity is often forgiveable because stupid people often mean well but they screw up anyway. Dann doesn’t mean well. Stupid is what Marc Dann made of the people who voted for him.
I don’t think that any of us could say it any better!
Marc Dann Refuses to be Pushed Out
May 10, 2008
If one can be said about Marc Dann it would be that he is very stubborn. After calls for resignation by virtually every high-ranked democrat in the state of Ohio, the attorney general will not leave.
In response to that stubbornness, today his party ousted him. According to the party leader Redfern:
“What it means is that he can call himself an unaffliated Democrat if he wants, but he is no longer a member of this party,” said state Rep. Chris Redfern, the Catawba Island Democrat who is chairman of the state party.
Do you think that this will put more pressure on him or do articles of impeachment need to be filed?
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