21st Century Democrats in Action - Jennifer Brunner

21st Century Democrats was proud to have endorsed and supported Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in her 2006 election. Howard Dean, DNC Chair said that Jennifer’s race was the most important in the country. We heartily agree! It remains a truism of national politics, “as Ohio goes, so goes the nation.” The voters in Ohio now have at the election helm a person of unparalleled experience with a passion for elections. The vote of every Ohio voter will be counted now that Jennifer Brunner is Secretary of State.

Recently, we spoke to Jennifer about all she’s been able to accomplish in her first six months in office. As Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer established four goals for her term as Secretary of State. The first goal is to work to restore trust to Ohio’s elections. With the November 2008 presidential election looming, Brunner knew that this was her paramount responsibility.

Upon entering the office, Jennifer realized her predecessor had fundamentally ignored Ohio’s 88 county Boards of Elections for eight years. Among other things this neglect resulted in substantial variances in the election process county-by-county. The second surprise was how little had actually been put into writing during the last six months of 2006. One major impact was that counties interpreted the voter I.D. law and absentee and provisional voting policies in many different ways. This lack of direction caused confusion among voters and election workers. Voter I.D. laws, absentee and provisional voting rules and regulations are particularly important in Presidential elections when only a few thousand votes may separate the winner from the loser in a state with 20 electoral votes.

To most efficiently and effectively remedy the confusion, Jennifer divided the state into fourteen districts assigning field representatives to them. The field representatives now meet regularly with and provide assistance to county Boards of Elections. Additionally, Secretary of State staff attorneys have now been assigned to each Board by region, so that they can immediately answer questions that arise and offer sound legal advice when needed. Finally, a training program is in development to train Ohio’s pollworkers in the proper procedures of running fair and efficient elections.

Under Jennifer’s tenure the Ohio Secretary of State’s office will promote civic participation and a stronger democracy through ensuring every Ohioan’s right to vote in an election system that is free, fair, open and honest. In an effort to make the office more accessible to all Ohioans, she formed the Voting Rights Institute to work with communities, partner with organizations and implement programs that will ensure a safe, reliable and trustworthy voting process that fosters and enhances access to voting in Ohio. The Institute will also act as a clearinghouse where voters can express their concerns and describe their voting experiences with responses from the Secretary of State or the local Board of Elections. The Institute will also provide leadership on legislative and policy initiatives to accomplish its mission utilizing the Voting Rights Institute Advisory Council.

The Voting Rights Institute Advisory Council is teaming up with Ohio’s election stakeholders to restore trust to the state’s voting system. The all-volunteer Council consists of a diverse group of individuals and organizations that have experience, knowledge, passion and a common interest in improving Ohio’s elections. The council, which includes 6 work groups and meets as a whole on a quarterly basis, will make recommendations to the Voting Rights Institute and the secretary of state’s office on how to develop practices and proposals with the goal of making Ohio’s elections and voting systems a positive example for the nation.

The lack of oversight and consistency among the county boards of elections created problems at the county level. Cuyahoga County, the state’s most populous county was one such example. The situation that Jennifer faced in Cuyahoga upon taking office was daunting, at best.

There were some serious problems with the vote count in Cleveland in 2004. It eventually turned out that two high-ranking Board of Election employees were charged with and convicted of election related felonies for their role in the rigging of a recount from the 2004 Presidential Election. They were dismissed from their jobs but the confidence of the public in Cuyahoga County’s ability to hold an election had sunk to a new low. In March, Secretary Brunner asked the four Board members to resign, thereby directly taking on the Ohio Republican Party, the Cleveland Democratic Party and some local labor organizations. The result was a clean slate for the citizens of Cuyahoga County. A new Board was sworn-in by early May of 2007 and recently hired a new director and deputy director, based on merit.

In an effort to expand participation among our youngest voters, Jennifer unveiled in June a state pilot program, “Grads Vote 2007,” a pilot program, with statewide reach planned for next year. Graduating seniors in five Ohio counties were provided a voter registration form and information on registering, absentee voting and serving as a poll worker with their high school diploma.

Throughout July, the Ohio Secretary of State’s staff has been evaluating proposals from experts to test Ohio’s electronic voting systems, a necessary step, once again, to restoring public confidence to Ohio voters. Brunner’s office expects to complete testing by this fall.

Ohio’s new Secretary of State has already demonstrated in six short months that she has the knowledge and experience to run elections in Ohio and that she’s a tough and pragmatic politician to boot. Jennifer Brunner is an example of the kind of political leader 21st Century looks to identify and support. We’re happy to be associated with her and look forward to working with her in the future.