Common Cause Ohio seeks audit of Blackwell spending

Common Cause/Ohio today called for an audit of federal money spent by Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell under the Help America Vote Act.

Here is the non-profit citizen action group's news statement:

Common Cause/Ohio, a state affiliate of one of the nation's oldest and most respected nonpartisan government watchdogs, today called on the Federal Election Assistance Commission ("EAC") and the Acting Inspector General, U.S. EAC to conduct a full financial audit of Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell's expenditure of Help American Vote Act ("HAVA") federal funds, charging the partisan expenditure of funds in violation of the stated purpose of the Act to improve elections in Ohio in the aftermath of the 2004 presidential election. It also notified United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez of its request.

The federal government has recently taken action against election officials in two states --Alabama and California -- based on election administration concerns. Common Cause/Ohio noted that, in those two cases, the election officials were Democrats. Common Cause/Ohio urged the EAC to disprove recent allegations, including those by the New York Times, of a partisan enforcement agenda.

Common Cause/Ohio cited Blackwell's use of "more than $2 million in federal dollars to advertise himself on television" during the 2004 election, stating that the media had already noted that "Blackwell had 'tapp[ed] into federal money to pitch himself . . . '".

The letter also notes that Blackwell has ignored public calls from a wide range of sources, including the New York Times, to recuse himself from matters relating to his own election. Blackwell's recent decision, in the face of public pressure, to informally "delegate" certain of his core job responsibilities to subordinates, does not address the issue, stating that "a 'half recusal' is worse than no recusal at all because it merely removes Secretary Blackwell from public accountability for his actions."

Among other actions that support an audit, Common Cause/Ohio noted, "Blackwell has disbursed a significant amount of HAVA funds to a number of large Republican contributors as he has simultaneously campaigned for governor" including:

-- Smart Solutions, a Columbus company

-- Excel Management of Columbus

-- Professor Robert Destro, a Washington, D.C. law professor who publicly supports Blackwell and is actively engaged in partisan politics, and whom has already come under public scrutiny for receiving such funds

Calling his actions "brazen," Common Cause/Ohio noted that Blackwell's ownership of Diebold stock while negotiating with Diebold for purchase of equipment and setting up Diebold as the standard for awarding funds to counties is "self dealing." HAVA is the federal law passed by Congress to address voting problems in the 2000 Florida Presidential election. Congress through HAVA and its administering agency, the Election Assistance Commission, made millions of dollars in federal funds available to the States to help them update their voting systems and properly train and educate voters and election officials for improved election processes in the U.S.

A copy of the letter seeking the audit, as signed by Samuel Gresham, acting executive director of Common Cause/Ohio, can be found here:
HAVALetter%28Updated%29.doc