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Score one for the good guys!
Last month ProgressOhio initiated a public records request to the Franklin County Board Of Elections.
"Pursuant to R.C. 149.43, please provide all records, including, but not limited to, emails (whether on private or government email accounts), memoranda, or other correspondence to or from Matt Damschroder . . .
Our findings were reported by Executive Director of ProgressOhio.org Brian Rothenberg in his column"Shadows On High".
Shadows On High: Election Machine Drama; All Damm-ed Up And Nowhere to Go!
From todays Columbus Dispatch:
Shake-up to precede primary at Franklin County Board of Elections
A deal is in the works to change leaders at the Franklin County Board of Elections, just days before the presidential primary draws scrutiny to Ohio.
The board will meet at 1 p.m. Sunday to swap its director and deputy director and name a new chairman.
The move follows rumors that Director Matthew Damschroder would be booted, both because he is bloodied by battles with Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and because he is a Republican and political control has shifted to Democrats.
The changes are intended to allay Brunner's concerns. She is responsible for Ohio's elections and has a laundry list of grievances against Damschroder, including what she sees as sloppy voting safeguards and his efforts to torpedo her reforms.
"I want qualified people to run the board of election," Brunner said. "I can work with just about anybody. … What I can't abide is someone not following the law, cutting corners and essentially creating problems for voters."
William A. Anthony Jr. confirmed Friday that he will step down as chairman of the board, clearing the way for fellow Democrat Dennis L. White to be voted in as director at the board's organizational meeting.
Damschroder, a Republican, will move to deputy director. Doug Preisse, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, is expected to be voted in as chairman of the elections board, which he joined just last week.
Ohio law requires bipartisan oversight of elections boards; a single party may not control both the chairman and director.
Anthony and Preisse and fellow board member Kim Marinello each said they'd vote for Damschroder as deputy director. Former Chairman Michael F. Colley could not be reached for comment. But Preisse said they'd spoken recently and "he seemed satisfied with the way things are coming together."
Anthony said he'd counseled Damschroder to lie low after e-mails became public showing he was working against Brunner's decision to return to paper ballots because of concerns over the electronic machines' security and accuracy.
"I told him, 'That wasn't politically smart, man,' " he said.
Shadows On High: Election Machine Drama; All Damm-ed Up And Nowhere to Go!
