By Mark Niquette from the March 1 Columbus Dispatch

After predicting a record voter turnout in Tuesday's Ohio primary, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner dropped another big number yesterday: The estimated cost of replacing state voting equipment this fall has more than doubled, to $64 million. Full Article.

From DispatchPolitics.com on Feb. 29

The Ohio Supreme Court today rejected an attempt by Union County officials to overturn Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's order to make paper ballots available to primary voters on Tuesday. Full Article.

By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer

02/26/2008 01:22 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) _ House Democrats and Republicans sparred Tuesday over elections — not who wins and loses, but who gets to vote, and how.

With a week to go before a new round of critical presidential primaries, the hearing in Congress showed just how much lingering suspicion remains among Democrats over the last two presidential elections.

Democrats on the subcommittee won a vote authorizing a subpoena for Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican and Ohio's top election official in 2004, the year many Democrats charged that their supporters were being discouraged from voting. The state's 2008 presidential primary takes place next Tuesday.

Republicans on the panel derided the subpoena effort as a waste of time.

While Democrats authorized a subpoena for Blackwell, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., has yet to decide if he will actually issue one.

"Mr. Ken Blackwell, wherever you are in North America today, please know that we are not sending the gendarme for you this moment," said Conyers. "I do not like to issue subpoenas. … The only problem is we can never reach him."

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who chaired the subcommittee hearing, said he hoped the subpoena threat would persuade Blackwell to testify voluntarily.

Blackwell testified before a different House committee in 2005, defending his state's handling of the vote. Ohio's electoral votes were decisive in delivering a second term to George W. Bush over John Kerry.

Trent Franks, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee, ridiculed Democrats for seeking to re-argue the 2004 election.

"Having repeatedly engaged in a variety of wild goose chases that have led to dozens of dry holes, this committee has apparently set its sights on yet another goose, and yet another dry hole," said Franks, R-Ariz.

Democrats also grilled a Justice Department official over the Bush administration's record of enforcing voting laws. They charge it has worked to discourage minorities and senior citizens from voting.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Asheesh Agarwal insisted that the agency has taken an evenhanded approach to enforcing fair elections.

Much of the partisan parrying centers on Republican demands for better screening of voters through identification requirements and cross-checks of voter rolls. Democrats complain that those moves are designed to suppress voter turnout among minorities. Democrats also contend that voting enforcement should focus instead on what they say is the much bigger problem of eligible voters being wrongly turned away from polling places.

Via the Mansfield News Journal:

Former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell could be forced to testify before a House committee looking into problems during the 2004 presidential election.

A subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee will discuss Tuesday issuing a subpoena for the Republican Blackwell. He declined to appear in a politically tinged exchange of letters with the committee’s Democratic leadership

Read the full story

From the Feb. 25 Xenia Gazette
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner wrote a guest column for the paper.

Ohio's recent election systems review conducted by my office has been called one of the most exhaustive studies in the nation. We were fortunate to have the cooperation of all voting machine manufacturers whose systems are used in our state, a team of both industrial and academic researchers who performed parallel testing, and a group of bipartisan election officials who were instrumental in the review of the report findings and the crafting of recommendations.

Full Article.

By Joe Guillen from Cleveland.com on Feb. 20

In the face of a massive voter turnout expected on March 4, Cuyahoga County Elections Director Jane Platten on Wednesday said her office is ready for the primary. Full Article.

From the Associated Press in the Feb. 9 Youngstown Vindicator

Election officials expect the number of Ohio voters using absentee ballots for the now-crucial presidential primary on March 4 to break a record — presenting a challenge to Sen. Barack Obama as he strives to boost his name recognition and overcome significant deficits in state polls. Full Article.

From the Associated Press on Ohio.com Feb. 7

Ohio's top elections official on Wednesday unveiled a free online training program for poll workers. Full Article.

By Mark Niquette from the Feb. 6 Columbus Dispatch

A federal judge this afternoon blocked an attempt to stop the state’s most populous county, Cuyahoga County, from switching from touch-screen voting machines to paper ballots counted at a central location in the March 4 primary. Full Article.

By Lynn Hulsey from the Feb. 5 Dayton Daily News

A computer glitch found in the online absentee ballot application process at the Montgomery County Board of Elections Web site was fixed Monday, said board director Steve Harsman. Full Article.