Blackwell’s attempts (some successful) at screwing with the elections in Ohio in 2004 are now costing him:

Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell must pay nearly $65,000 in legal fees incurred by the Sandusky County Democratic Party when it successfully challenged one of the chief elections officer’s directives over provisional ballots in 2004.

The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a court order that determined Mr. Blackwell would not have brought his directives into compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act if not for the lawsuit.

Prior to the 2004 presidential election, U.S. District Judge James Carr in Toledo determined Mr. Blackwell’s directives failed to say poll workers had to allow voters to cast provisional ballots even if they believed the voters were in the wrong precinct.

As a result, Mr. Blackwell sent revised directions to poll workers informing them that provisional ballots would be provided in such cases but only counted if subsequent investigation showed the voters were indeed eligible to vote.

Of course this was one of the countless errors that has happened since Blackwell has been Secretary of State that he counts as a “minor problem” or “clerical oversight”. And this guy wants to be our next governor?

Blackwell is also under the microscope for this year’s elections. The new voter ID law is really producing some outrage, as well as it should. Now this law may provide the fuel needed to really look into Blackwell’s operation as our state’s top election official:

Voting-rights activists on Thursday produced what they said is the most compelling evidence to date that Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell is trying to suppress the vote in November.

In an advisory that contradicts a provision in the voter-reform bill legislators passed last year, Blackwell’s office informed county boards of election on June 5 that voters must present a photo ID “showing the voter’s name and current address” to cast a regular ballot.

That conflicts with the new law, which permits a person to vote by regular ballot even if the ID — typically a driver’s license — has the voter’s former address.

After ignoring the activists groups’ entreaties since early June — even after they threatened to go public — Blackwell’s office sent an e-mail to all 88 county elections boards Thursday. It reiterated instructions the office sent in May that voters who present an ID with a former address may cast a regular ballot if they provide the last four digits from their ID card.

“It’s not satisfactory,” said Suzanne Gravette, spokeswoman for the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, or COHHIO. “It’s not a directive and it’s not working,” she added, citing a COHHIO survey that showed mass confusion among county elections officials.

Of course in Ohio if a law enforcement officer asks for ID then you better produce it or you can end up in jail. This is the same as Russia’s “papers” system during communist times and a product of the Ohio Patriot Act.

The fight Deborah Pryce is facing for U.S. Representative is gaining more attention on the national front with this piece in the Boston Globe:

Election Day was five long months away, but Representative Deborah Pryce, an Ohio Republican, decided to air her first television campaign ad early to set the tone for what promised to be a tough re election fight.

But when the ad was broadcast in June, it contained an embarrassing error. Pryce’s first name was spelled “Deboarah.” The blunder was especially surprising coming from the camp of a seven-term incumbent and senior member of the House Republican leadership.

When it comes to hardball campaigning, Pryce is something of a rookie. She has not faced a serious challenge since she was first elected to Congress in 1992. But that has abruptly changed this year — for her, and for some other House Republicans accustomed to coasting to reelection.

With the political winds blowing squarely against the GOP, several senior lawmakers are facing unusually serious challenges that have forced them to dust off campaign tools that, in some cases, are a bit rusty.

And in follow up to a post a few days ago about the DCCC planning a spending frenzy in Ohio, the Kentucky Post gives us this article:

The campaign arm for congressional Democrats is planning to spend more than $2.7 million on television ads in the Fourth Congressional District – yet another sign of the competitive nature of the race between Democratic challenger Ken Lucas and incumbent Republican Geoff Davis.

The amount for ads in the district, which includes the expensive metropolitan markets of Cincinnati, Louisville, Lexington and Huntington, W.Va., is the second highest amount that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is planning to spend so far.

The National Republican Campaign Committee circulated the numbers last week. Because the information is public record, both sides routinely research the amount of money the other is reserving in advertising time in the fall to try to figure out opposition strategy.

The NRCC has not yet reserved advertising time, according to DCCC officials.

The Lucas and Davis race has long been considered one of the hottest and one of the costliest ever in the district.

Davis has so far dominated Lucas on fund-raising, with an advantage of about $1 million.

But recent polling by the Lucas campaign, as well as an independent poll by WCPO/SurveyUSA, have found Lucas with a lead over Davis of between 10 and 14 percentage points.

Now wouldn’t it be nice if we could get a blue Kentucky and blue Ohio to join with the already blue West Virginia? Blue fever is catching on and everyone needs to help make it spread!