Forced resignations and stiff prison sentences intensify the escalating blowback from Ohio’s 2004 stolen election

March 21, 2007
Forced resignations and stiff prison sentences intensify the escalating blowback from Ohio’s 2004 stolen election

In a bold move "to restore trust to elections in Ohio," Ohio's newly-elected Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has requested the resignation of all four members of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. The two Democrats and two Republicans were formally asked to resign by the close of business on March 21. Cuyahoga County includes the heavily Democratic city of Cleveland. Brunner is a Democrat who was elected, last November, to be Ohio's Secretary of State.

Felony convictions have also resulted in 18-month prison sentences for two employees of the Cuyahoga BOE as a result of what the county prosecutor in the case calls the "rigging" of the outcome in the recount following the 2004 presidential election. Further problems surfaced in the conduct of Cuyahoga County's May, 2006 primary, in the wake of which Michel Vu, Executive Director of the county's Board of Elections recently resigned.