Maybe a little vain to include my own picture, but this one was taken by a reporter at last night's 1 hour and 45 minute Board of Elections meeting. I think it speaks volumes.I have avoided publicly commenting on my work on the Board of Elections because my responsibility there is to work at the direction of the Democrat Secretary of State to assure integrity in the elections process in Hamilton County and as Chairman of the Board of Elections--I take that duty seriously.
The Ohio Republican Party and other Republicans have fought the good fight to assure that our elected officials are doing all they can to assure fairness in the elections process. They should be commended for their efforts. They have made a difference.
I want to assure readers of this blog that the election in Hamilton County will be fair and that their vote will count. Are there problems? Yes. There are always problems in any system where humans are involved. But, will those problems lead to massive voter fraud that changes the outcome of the election? No. I have seen no evidence of this.
Yesterday at the Board meeting, I made a rather poor analogy that I will, unfortunately, repeat on this blog. I compared the perception of downtown Cincinnati to the perception of the election.
Downtown Cincinnati is mostly a safe neighborhood and a great place to live, shop and visit. There is the occasional crime that sometimes mars the image of downtown and draws a fair amount of attention. These crimes and downtown's proximity to a high crime neighborhood have caused the misperception that downtown is not safe. It is safe.
In the same way, a few bad actors (or groups) have possibly engaged in improper conduct with regard to voter fraud. Voting fraud rightfully draws tremendous media and public scrutiny because it can undermine the democratic process that underpins our society. This high level of attention to potential crimes have caused a misperception that the election is not safe. A special prosecutor has been assigned by the courts to deal with this question.
Just as we would urge the vigorous prosecution of any criminal acting to disturb public order in downtown Cincinnati, we should fully support the prosecution of those acting to mar the election process. We should fully cooperate with the prosecution of anyone found to have violated the law.
Downtown is safe despite the actions of a few scoundrels. Our election in Hamilton County is safe despite the same thing.
