Voting 

Saving The Ballot Evidence From Ohio 2004 

By Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman 

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Republican election officials here have been chomping at the bit to shred, burn, or otherwise destroy the ballots and other related materials from the dubious vote count that gave George W. Bush a second term. 

Disturbing revelations of irregularities, theft, and fraud continue to pour from the ballots still stored by election boards around the state. Statistician Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips has been instrumental in the research process, along with a volunteer crew of election protection activists. This summer, Ron Baiman of Loyola has also been analyzing ballots and other election records from 2004. Many have spent countless hours pouring through and photographing piles of voter records and thousands of ballots, some of them stacked in filthy, leaky warehouses. Through this work, the evidence that the 2004 election was stolen continues to build. 

Unfortunately, some vital material has already been destroyed by various county election boards. Fears have also been expressed that some Board Of Elections (BOE) might ignore the new orders to preserve the ballots. Some 2004 election workers have already been indicted in Cuyahoga County. A major partisan battle has erupted in the Democratic stronghold of Cleveland over the actions of the executive director of the Cuyahoga County BOE, Michael Vu. Nominally a Democrat, Vu only holds his position because of the support of Cuyahoga County BOE chair, Robert Bennett, also chair of the Ohio Republican Party. Legal battles also continue over the firing of Sherole Eaton, a federal whistleblower who dared to call attention to unauthorized manipulations of a central tabulator during the recount in 2004 in Hocking County. 

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ow many more such legal and political battles will come is unclear. What is clear is that it will take years of investigating to get to the bottom of what really happened in 2004 and doing so will require preservation of the ballots, which the GOP has been eager to destroy. 

Ironically, the state of Florida has saved its ballots from 2000. A concerted campaign by academics and other interested parties gathered enough political clout to force Governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris to order those records be moved to an air conditioned repository in Tallahassee where they are now protected. 

J. Kenneth Blackwell, the Republican secretary of state, is running for governor of Ohio. His dual role as administrator of the election and state co-chair of the BushCheney campaign has caused embarrassment and ire throughout the Buckeye State. 

Blackwell made clear his intent to rid himself of the remnants of 2004. Federal law says ballots must be preserved 22 months after a presidential election, which means Blackwell and the BOEs could have shredded them all on September 2. 

With prior wind of the action, Blackwell issued a directive asking the BOEs not to destroy the ballots and election records, at least for the time being. Initially, Blackwell claimed he did not have the power to order the BOEs to preserve the ballots. But he then indicated they were under a limited legal obligation to do so. 

Blackwell’s prior claim of powerlessness is absurd. Throughout the 2004 campaign the secretary of state ordered major unilateral changes by directive in provisional ballot counting and voter registration procedures. He threatened to remove election board officials who failed to comply. By Ohio law, all BOE officials serve at the pleasure of Blackwell. He also denied paper ballot backups to Franklin County (Columbus) in the event of long lines during the 2004 election, even after they were requested by the Democratic Franklin County BOE chair William Anthony and Republican director Matt Damschroder. 

Blackwell and Ohio’s 88 county BOEs are legally bound under the law not to destroy these ballots. A Rule 26 letter was delivered to the secretary of state and Attorney General Jim Petro’s office outlining the fact that the ballots would be evidence in a civil rights case. Nevertheless, Blackwell has issued guidelines on how to destroy them should the ban be lifted. 

For those on all sides of Ohio 2004, the preservation of the ballots should be without controversy. Says Arnebeck, “The 2004 ballots and records are relevant evidence for issues in our civil rights case, and therefore must be preserved.” 

The 2004 Ohio presidential electoral college slate became the first ever challenged in its entirety, leading to an historical debate in Congress in January 2005. These ballots are essential to political scientists, historians, and other interested parties that wish to sort out the controversies and irregularities that surrounded Ohio’s 2004 election.