Reply #23: OH: Democrats want Blackwell to step aside [View All]

He shouldn't oversee election, they insist
Friday, June 09, 2006
Ted Wendling
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus - Ohio Democrats called Thursday for Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to step aside from "overseeing his own election," proposing that someone not running for office serve as the state's elections chief.

Prominent among their recommendations: Republican Attorney General Jim Petro, whom Blackwell savaged on the campaign trail before handily defeating him in last month's GOP gubernatorial primary.

Democrats aren't suggesting Blackwell give up the office, but they do want him to turn over his voting oversight role until after the November election.

Lee Fisher, Rep. Ted Strickland's running mate in the governor's race, said Democrats are asking Blackwell to relinquish his election duties because he has been "deliberately misconstruing the intent of the law" by publishing onerous rules pertaining to voter-registration drives.

"The irony of all this . . . is that we are trying to depoliticize the process," Fisher said. "It has been politicized by the secretary of state."

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