'Challengers' - Blackwell IV.B

updated 12-5 @ 11.45

In the midst of running for reelection, massaging the House and Senate to make sure a bill was passed, on October, 2002 the ACLU of Ohio sued SoS Blackwell in the US District Court of Northern Columbus. They alledged in their statement that Ohio's punch card voting system violated the rights of the voters and further sought to have the punch cards removed by the November, '04 elction. However since the trial was delayed until Nov. '04, their request proved impossible to fulfill. Thus, the ACLU sued the one man who agreed with them about the possibility for inequity in the use of chads and hanging-chads to determine a political victor.

Having ran for and won a second term as Ohio's SoS on November 7, 2002, Blackwell was installed on January 13, 2003. On January 23, 2003 Blackwell issued an agenda-setting press release for his next four years in office. He stated, with Asisstant SoS Monty Lobb adding the second sentence,

"With the enactment of the Help America Vote Act, we will oversee the implementation of the most significant elections systems overhaul in recent history... [Lobb] “The agency will continue to improve the services available to Ohioans through the upgrading of technology as well as focusing on improved customer-relations management.”

After appearing in front of the Controlling Board on February 10, SoS Blackwell won approval to create an Election Reform Fund, in which to house the 132 million tax-payer paid dollars appropriated by HAVa 2002. The Board was responsible for dispersing HAVA's funds given to the chief executive officer. Further research has revealed that the Controlling Board was created in 1917 as a subsidary of Ohio's Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Now-a-days, the Controlling Board has two main functions:

1) to provide legislative oversight pertaining to certain capital and operating expenditures by state agencies; and,
2) has approval authority over various other state fiscal activities. The board, which meets approximately every two weeks, votes opon requests for action that submitted by any and all state agencies.

Seven (7) members sit in the governor-appointed chairs:

a) the Director of Budget and Management, or his or her designee (the President of the Board);
b) the Chairman of the Finance and Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives;
c) the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Senate;
d) & e) two members of the House appointed by the Speaker of the House; and,
f) & g) two members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate.

The requests acted upon by the Committee are the following: grants waivers of competitive bidding to agencies, when an agency's purchases or leases from a specific vendor exceed the amounts specified in law. It releases appropriations for capital construction projects and approves loans and grants by the Department of Development. It also approves loans and subsidies made by the Department of Education to local school districts as well as the transfer of appropriation authority between line items within a fund in an agency and increases in appropriation authority in some funds.

Blackwell received approval, then, on February 10 to create fund 3AA and appropriation line item 613, i.e., the Election Reform Fund. thus financed he set out to make the governors team

On March 18, 2003 Blackwell announced the formation of a 13-member State Planning Committee by asserting

“We are about to begin the process of making Ohio’s elections system more accurate, reliable and easy to use... The members of the committee will assist me in developing a fair and comprehen-sive roadmap to election reform.”

This roadmap, in adherence to HAVA 2002, would hear testimony, review public statements, and assist Blackwell with the express mandate to develop Ohio’s election reform plan. Eventually this State Plan would garner for Ohio the mandated 132 million dollars for tax-payer reform. The membership was composed of one State Representative, one State Senator, various elections' officials, univeristy professors, and Blackwell himself.

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