San Francisco Chronicle Editorial (2/13): Not a job for partisans

[Jack Rabbit]

From the San Francisco Chronicle
Dated Sunday February 13

Not a job for partisans

Democrat Kevin Shelley became a poster child for what can happen when a secretary of state wades into the muck of partisan politics -- but he is not the only one.

As Florida secretary of state, Republican Katherine Harris created a national furor in 2000 when she certified George W. Bush as winner of the state's 25 electoral votes while Democrat Al Gore was still pressing for recounts. Harris was a co-chair of the Bush campaign in Florida, where allegations of voting irregularities will haunt that election into history.

Once again, the 2004 presidential election was decided by a close vote in a state with a Republican secretary of state and co-chair of the Bush campaign. Fairly or not, Republican Kenneth Blackwell's oversight of the Ohio election has been analyzed through the prism of his openly stated loyalties. After the election, he even sent Republican contributors a thank-you letter for delivering the state to Bush.

Shelley's scandals, which led to his recently announced resignation, run much deeper than his alleged partisanship in distributing federal voting act funds to political cronies. Shelley is facing state and federal investigations over fund-raising schemes, his hiring and promotion practices and his treatment of staff members.

Still, the Shelley case -- as well as the Harris and Blackwell controversies -- raise the question of how a state can separate its chief elections officer from his or her partisan allegiances.

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