DeWine accused Brunner of slandering the reputations of Republican board members and “disparaging the integrity of Ohio’s election system.” He demanded an apology.Stop the presses! If this last statement is true, then one of three people is lying to the citizens of this state. That person would be Jennifer Brunner, the county chairman, or the reporter who originally reported this story. Care to place bets on who it was?
“If she has knowledge of illegal election activity,” DeWine said, “she should report it immediately to the authorities. Unfortunately, this is nothing but a cover for an attempt by Democrats to litigate elections.”
Brunner said there is nothing to apologize for. She said neither she nor Maier made the remark DeWine found offensive.
“I find it interesting that DeWine has revived this whole issue at the same time a national report is released about Republican vote-changing activity,” Brunner said. “It’s a lot of political gamesmanship.”The Brunner quote here is absolutely beyond the pale. What "national report on Republican vote-changing activity"? Who's report are we talking about here? MoveOn.org? ACORN? Washington State? Montgomery County, Ohio? I fault the reporter or the editor for not following up on this point. You absolutely can not take her word for it in a case like this. If a blogger did this sort of shady reporting on an original story, the 527 media in this state would have a field day...and rightfully so.
“(Brunner) has never said and I never said she said anything about any Republican election board members,” Maier said Wednesday. “She has stated that if you can put an attorney on the board you should do that. She has said that to both sides.”
Both Maier and Brunner said DeWine’s records request won’t yield anything.
“She’s not given anybody a directive on this,” Maier said.
Brunner said election issues often involve litigation and it’s helpful to have attorneys on local boards.
On to Maier's statement... So when Robert Wang, who wrote the original Canton Rep piece said this...
Maier said he chose Ferruccio because “he’s a good Democrat” and in response to a recommendation by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. The party chairman said Brunner wanted county Democratic parties to select attorneys to fill spots on county boards of elections — to help counter purported legal maneuvers by Republican board members to suppress the Democratic vote. The board always has two Democrats and two Republicans.Emphasis added.
...he either got it wrong or made it up? Or he got it right and Maier said something he shouldn't have? Or???
Perhaps the Canton Repository could send out a competent reporter to get to the bottom of this... Or maybe some other outfit in the 527 media in this state could get on the ball here...
