Non-existent address on Stainbrook voter registration raises too many questions

When it comes to getting your address correct, you'd think most people would be pretty good at it.

Admittedly, there are some people who are dyslexic and might have trouble writing down their own address, but they at least know what it is and take steps to make sure they are accurate when communicating it.

Apparently, that's not the case with Robert C. Stainbrook II and the forms that have been submitted to the Board of Elections in his name.

Robert is the brother of Jon Stainbrook, chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party and a member of the Board of Elections. He moved from Ottawa County and registered to vote in Lucas last year.

He's not registered to vote in both places, which is a good thing.

He's registered to vote at 2526 Amara Drive, Toledo, 43615.

But there's a problem: there is no such address, according to the Auditor's AREIS system:

If you drive down the street, you won't find a house or dwelling - or a part of a house or dwelling - with that address on it.

When you register to vote, the BOE sends you a postcard telling you the ward and precinct numbers and your polling location. The postcard they sent to Robert was returned as undeliverable.

That wasn't the only one.

The Fallen Timbers Republican Club invited all candidates for precinct committee to attend a training/educational session. Their postcard to him was also returned.

Trying to give Robert the benefit of the doubt that perhaps he had the numbers mixed up, the FTRC reversed the numbers and sent a notice to 2625 Amara, which is in the Auditor's AREIS system. That didn't work. That postcard was also returned.

The returned mail isn't enough to make a fuss over, as there are many reasons such items are returned. However, combine the returned mail with the fact that no such number exists in the AREIS system and there is no such number on any dwelling and now you have too many questions with not enough answers.

The range of possibilities go from innocent to nefarious.

On the innocent side, Robert made a mistake when he put his address on his registration card. That's simple enough to fix - he just corrects it with the Board of Elections.

On the nefarious side, he doesn't live on the street and is fraudulently registered - with or without his knowledge.

To complicate matters, I've been told that the handwriting on Robert's voter registration card and his petition for precinct committee belongs to Meghan Gallagher.

Gallagher is the former executive director of the BOE who was recently removed. She is also known as a 'sometime' girlfriend of Jon Stainbrook.

Now, it's not too uncommon to have someone else fill out your forms so they're ready for your signature. But then there are what appear to be discrepancies in the signatures themselves.

Here is the signature on the voter registration card:

Here is the signature on Robert's petition for central committee:

And here is his signature on his voter registration card in Ottawa County:

I'm not a handwriting expert but I think there are enough differences to raise the question of whether or not all three are really Robert's.

Combining the signature discrepancy with the non-existent address, the information that the handwriting on the registration and petition forms is Meghan Gallagher's and even non-doubting people might begin to wonder.

I share this information not to cast dispersions on Robert Stainbrook II, but to ensure that the correct address is recorded for him and that he votes in the correct precinct.

And if the worse case scenario is true and the voter registration card and petition were NOT signed by him, the person who did so can be held accountable.

New online change of address tool for Ohio voters

Press Release from Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted:

Secretary of State Husted Launches New Online Change of Address Tool for Ohio Voters

New service will make it easier for voters to meet their responsibilities, while enhancing the overall accuracy and security of Ohio’s voter rolls.

Columbus –Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted today launched a new online service that allows Ohio’s registered voters to update their voting address online. This new tool, housed at www.MyOhioVote.com, will help voters in meeting their primary responsibility: To be registered at their current addresses 30 days prior to an election. Additionally, reducing manual data entry at Ohio’s boards of elections will save tax dollars and improve the accuracy and security of Ohio’s voter rolls.

“We are making it easier for Ohio voters to do their part in making Election Day run smoothly,” Secretary Husted said. “This added convenience for voters is also a powerful tool against voter fraud as current and accurate voter rolls leave less room for abuse.”

The most common reason a voter must cast a provisional rather than a regular ballot on Election Day is because they have not updated their address prior to the voter registration deadline. Provisional voters’ ballots must be verified for eligibility in the days following an election before they can be included in the official tally. Secretary Husted noted that had this system been in place during the 2008 Presidential Election, an estimated 130,000 voters who cast a provisional ballot could have taken advantage of this convenience and voted a regular ballot.

“With more voters expected to participate in the Presidential Election, it follows that there will be more provisional ballots. My hope is that more Ohioans will take advantage of the new Online Change of Address System so they can vote a regular ballot,” Husted said. “This is another positive step in making Ohio elections run better.”

All Ohioans of voting age will be able to use the site; however, in order to update an address online, the individual must already be a registered voter and must provide four identification keys that exactly match what’s in Ohio’s Statewide Voter Registration Database, including: their last name, Ohio driver’s license number, the last four digits of their Social Security number and their date of birth. If a voter does not meet these requirements, they will be able to print and complete a voter registration/change of address form to mail it in to their county board of elections office.

To ensure as many voters as possible are able to update their information online, the Secretary of State’s office is working with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) to share data. Every month the BMV provides identification information to complete voter records. Currently, more than 6 million of Ohio’s registered voters will be able to change their address online.

Upon completing the online process, the voter’s county board of elections will send out a notice to confirm the change in address and provide the voter with their new polling place and precinct information for Election Day.

Voters who get their address updated between now and the first week of October will also be in line to receive an application to vote by mail for the November Presidential Election -- an initiative Secretary of State Husted is sponsoring to ensure voters statewide have equal opportunity to participate, whether they choose to vote early, by mail or on Election Day.

“This November all eyes will be on Ohio, and we voters have important decisions to make. As chief elections officer, I want to ensure Ohio’s voting process is accessible, accurate and secure so that we can all have confidence in the results,” Husted said.

For more information, or to access the new Online Change of Address System, go to MyOhioVote.com.

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Brunner's ties to ACORN run long and deep

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has been fighting the verification of voter registrations and denying that vote fraud exists in Ohio.

(For a complete story of the fiascos that have plagued Ohio under her months in office, you can search this blog - link on the left - for 'Brunner.')

Throughout the various court battles and the directives and the calls for investigations of Republicans, but not of ACORN, everyone wondered just why it was she was turning a blind eye to obvious problems.

Some speculated that it was because some of these groups were part of her advisers - but now the evidence is clear.

An investigation into ACORN's alleged fraudulent election activity revealed yesterday that one of the national directors, Karyn Gillette, may have collaborated with the Obama campaign to raise funds for the group's voter registration efforts.

So what does this have to do with Brunner? Gillette is identified on Jennifer Brunner's 2006 campaign website as a consultant. A blog entry by Brunner's husband Rick talks about that relationship, saying: "our candidate had gone earlier in the day to have some meetings and work out of Karyn Gillette's office." He also describes Gillette as "very helpful to the campaign."

According to campaign finance reports that were filed, Gillette was paid $21,250 by Brunner's campaign. She has a longtime history of serving as a fundraising consultant to Ohio Democrats.

An ACORN whistle blower testified in a Pennsylvania state court that "in November 2007 Project Vote development director Karyn Gillette told her she had direct contact with the Obama campaign and had obtained their donor lists." Project Vote is the voter registration arm of ACORN. (Wall Street Journal, 10/29/08)

But that's not all. Gillette is not Brunner's only tie to ACORN. Members of the group's voter registration arm, Project Vote, regularly advise Brunner on election strategy, previously serving on her Voter Rights Institute and even recently issuing a news release claiming credit for Brunner's directive banning challenges to suspected fraudulent voter registrations.

So our Secretary of State shares a campaign advisor with ACORN, takes direction from ACORN's voter registration arm, and refuses to verify over 200,000 mismatched registrations while claiming there is no voter fraud going on in Ohio...and that attention to such frivolous issues distracts her from doing her job.

And then there was more bad news for Brunner. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission announced on Wednesday that it intends to suspend SysTest Laboratories, the company hired by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to study Ohio's electronic voting system. (Read the USEAC release here.)

The commission said in a news release that the planned suspension is due to numerous non-conformities, including failure to create and validate test methods, improper documentation of testing and unqualified personnel.

Secretary Brunner spent $1.7 million to hire SysTest in September of 2007 for a comprehensive study of Ohio's electronic voting machines, which would later be called EVEREST. The Columbus Dispatch accused Brunner of "overreacting" to the report, arguing "the unfortunate consequence of the study is that conspiracy theorists will renew their claims that Ohio's elections are inherently untrustworthy. That's simply not the case." (Columbus Dispatch, "Don't rush to judgment," 12/16/2007)

Voters are already concerned about the validity of votes in Ohio. Maybe we should start worry about how to replace our Secretary of State.

Blackeye State

"Welcome to Ohio - where a voter-fraud brush fire is making the Buckeye State into the Blackeye State, thanks to Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner."

That's what Peter Bronson writes in the Cincinnati Enquirer article, "Blackeye State, thanks to Brunner," and then he details why.

And if the court cases and voter registration verification problems weren't enough, our partisan Secretary of State has issued her 100th directive - and she's not even finished with her 10th month in office.

"Jennifer Brunner has every elections official in the state swimming in red tape," said Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine in a press release. "One of the major newspapers called her a micro-meddler several months ago. She's been out to prove it ever since."

Brunner's latest round of micro-management instructs election administrators on what to do with absentee ballots cast by voters whose registrations don't match up with federal and state databases.

"This is the same mismatch information Brunner has so far failed to provide to county election administrators," said DeWine. "At this point she's telling elections officials what to do with information she hasn't even provided them. Until she releases the 200,000 questionable registrations on file in her office, this directive is worthless."

By comparison, Brunner's predecessor, Ken Blackwell, had only issued 42 directives by October 25, 2004, the first presidential election with the new voting machines.

But the reason she's doing this all for the local boards of elections:

"My first concern is for the boards of elections because they are on the ground, in the trenches, doing the work with the voters, and if i have to be the lightning rod for the boards of elections so they can be left alone undisturbed, then so be it." (Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, 10/17/08)

Sadly, the only time Brunner has left Ohio's election officials alone and undisturbed is when they ask for a system of validating thousands of potentially fraudulent registrations.

In the same press release, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett said:

"These board members are outraged by her attempts to keep them from doing their jobs. Secretary Brunner has done nothing but scare, intimidate and stonewall Ohio's hard-working election officials, and her record of disrespect for them and their work is well-documented."

But then our governor, Ted Strickland, weighs in on the issue and says he sees "no evidence" of election fraud here in Ohio. I guess he missed the following:

* A Democrat activist group with strong ties to Barack Obama has publicly testified that its members engage in election fraud right here in Ohio - possibly submitting thousands of fraudulent registrations. (The Plain Dealer, 10/7/08)

* The same group, ACORN, is accused of illegally giving cash and cigarettes to get an Ohio man to register to vote 72 times over an 18-month period. (New York Post, 10/11/08)

* Hamilton County election officials say at least 10,000 duplicate registrations have been submitted and possibly "thousands of fictitious ones." (Cincinnati Enquirer, 10/10/08)

* One man admitted ACORN convinced him to register multiple times and cast a bogus ballot with a fake address. (New York Post, 10/13/08)

* At least 13 college students are under investigation by the Franklin County prosecutor for violating residency requirements to cast illegal ballots. (Columbus Dispatch, 10/16/08)

* and all of the videos on Ohio and voter fraud being done by Shelby Holliday and Tiffany Wilson at Palestra.net.

This is an embarrassing way to run an election and it does, indeed, give Ohio a black eye.

"Well, I tell you what, it helps in Ohio that we've got Democrats in charge of the machines." ~ Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama (Columbus Dispatch)

Court fights may be over for Ohio voter registration verifications

David Myhal, the individual who had filed a court case with the Ohio Supreme Court after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Ohio Republican Party had no standing, has dropped his case against Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner over the provisions of the Help America Vote Act.

He did so at the request of Ohio GOP chairman Bob Bennett, who issued the following statement:

"We didn't file this lawsuit, but I've asked that it be withdrawn in the interest of negotiating a solution out of court. The legal wrangling on this issue has gone on long enough. Two courts and ten judges have made it abundantly clear that Secretary Brunner is not in compliance with federal law and she has a legal obligation to provide an adequate system of validating questionable registrations.

Secretary Brunner indicated last week that she would comply with the district court's order to assist election administrators in that process. I have reached out to Attorney General Nancy Rogers to begin a dialogue on achieving that objective. While she understandably could not make any guarantees, we have agreed to meet on Wednesday to begin discussions in good faith. I'm hopeful that we can work together on a solution that will give Ohioans greater confidence in the integrity of this election."

This may be a positive step, and the lack of court cases may result in a positive outcome for voter confidence in Ohio's system.

However, this may not be the last word on the issue as a majority of Republican Congress members from Ohio have asked U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and the Justice Department to get involved to force Brunner to make the checks on mismatched registration information.

A concise look at voter registration verification in Ohio

If you're a bit confused over the dueling court cases on Ohio's voter registration verification, this is a good explanation of what's going on and the implications.

H/T: TeamWMD

Voter registration issue goes back to court - Ohio Supreme Court

As I was travelling last night, I missed getting this out earlier.

If you've been following the issue of voter registration verification in Ohio, you probably already know that an individual has filed suit in Ohio Supreme Court against Secretary of State to seek an order directing the local county boards of elections to NOT process or count absentee ballots cast by voters registered after Jan. 1, 2008, unless they are first checked for mismatches and verified to be eligible.

The Columbus Dispatch has an objective, fair article on the case.