The problem with Ohio

For those of you who don’t know, in 2004 I waited in line for 10 hours to vote in Ohio along with 1,300 of my fellow Kenyon College students. Because of this, I have special interest in how the election will play out in Ohio. Not only is it an important swing state (again),  but also, I have seen first hand what fishy business can look like in that state. Fortunately, the then Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell (the guy whose oversight allowed this to happen) has been replaced by Jennifer Brunner. Unfortunately, it still looks like Ohio could be stolen.

I just met with an organizer who wished to remain nameless who had just come from a meeting with Brunner. He told me that Brunner seemed distraught at the fact that the voting machines in Ohio were very hackable.

“She told me that all it takes to get into those machines is a mini bar key,” he said. “It could be fixed if we went to paper ballots, but there is no way the legislatures would allow it because it would cost too much money, and would go against the ultra-rich machine companies. She said that she likes to sleep in on Saturdays, but couldn’t last week because she felt so sick to her stomach about the state of the election process.”

Let’s just hope that no evil mastermind stays in a hotel with a mini bar anytime soon….