http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/1162607056255260.xml&storylist=cleveland11/3/2006, 10:22 p.m. ET
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Democratic Party on Friday asked a judge to force Secretary of State Ken Blackwell — the Republican candidate for governor — to allow the party to add up to 300 observers to witness Tuesday's election.
The Democrats recruited 150 to 200 observers by an Oct. 27 deadline, with the understanding that, under Ohio law, the application could be amended and more names could be added later, said Mark Griffin, a lawyer representing the party.
However, Blackwell's office on Wednesday issued an advisory to Ohio's 88 county boards of elections saying they could not add any names submitted after Oct. 27, although the observers who filed for the original appointments could be substituted.
Ohio law states: "Notification shall take place not less than 11 days before the election on forms prescribed by the secretary of state and may be amended by filing an amendment with the board of elections at any time until 4 p.m. of the day before the election."...
Blackwell tells rally he can beat the odds
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/politics-1/1162602843123400.xml&storylist=cleveland11/3/2006, 8:08 p.m. ET
By DAN SEWELL
The Associated Press
CINCINNATI (AP) — Ken Blackwell told a throng of supporters Friday that they can help him win by campaigning "neighbor-to-neighbor, family member-to-family member, and church member-to-church member."
The Republican gubernatorial nominee, running substantially behind Democrat Ted Strickland in recent polls, said he's won elections before after trailing in polls.
"Elections are about one-day sales," he said at his campaign office in the College Hill neighborhood. "They are about getting out our vote on election day."
Joined by wife Rosa and other family members and friends at the rally, Blackwell talked about his long career, including stints as mayor of Cincinnati and as an undersecretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the George H.W. Bush administration. Now secretary of state, he is trying to become Ohio's first black governor...