Bob Bennett sues in Franklin Co. to keep his job on Cuyahoga BOE

[L. Coyote]

Bennett sues to keep his job on elections board
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH - Mar 30, 2007
Joan Mazzolini - Plain Dealer Reporter
http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isope/1175252235323530.xml&coll=2

Cuyahoga County elections board Chairman Bob Bennett has filed suit in Franklin County asking the court to block Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner from removing him from the board.

The suit contends that Brunner's action would violate Bennett's constitutional rights and that her accusations against the board are vague.

......

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Why sue in another county. Did he find a judge he "likes" there?

[DCKit]

1. No doubt

But it's up to the "Democrat" voters in OH to push this. They're the (directly) injured parties.

[Botany]

2. Oh Joy! Fight Bennett Fight.

Please make a stink ..... because that will allow Brunner to hold a public hearing about
what you have done.

Texas Strike Force
170,000 voters in Cuyahoga County removed from the rolls prior to the election
in 2004.
24% of registered voters in various democratic districts in Cuyahoga County had to
vote provisionally
Forcing Cuyahoga to take Diebold machines.
Runs of thousands of votes in 04 with no Kerry vote in them.

Brunner is talking to and reading the "right people" and will rip you a new ass.

[L. Coyote]

4. AND, let him explain this

He is trying to avoid the confrontation with Brunner, and to avoid facing all these questions, and especially this one, the rigging of the 2004 vote:

OHIO 2004: 6.15% Kerry-Bush vote-switch found in probability study
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x259620

This is an attempt to circumvent the hearing that awaits him where he will have to defend himself in relation to the job and his history in the job. Obviously, his $195-an-hour, paid-for-by-Cuyahoga-County lawyer has given him some "avoid at any cost" advice. This move is an indication that he will resign before having to answer these questions.

Obviously, the chairman of the Ohio Reublicans still wants to control of the BOE of the most Democratic county.

[mod mom]

3. Jon Craig, the Political Reporter of the Cincinnati Enquirer said he will cover this, he will

blog it at:

oops forgot the link...

http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/gov/

He is a fair reporter and had many stories overing election problems while at the Cols Dispatch and later at the Enquirer. RFK Jr used him several times as a reference.

:hi:

[JimDandy]

5. I think he's suing

Brunner in her capacity as Ohio Secretary of State and, therefore, a court in Franklin County, (where the state capital is located) would certainly have both subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction (defendant resides there)to hear the case. Do you have a link to a copy of Bennett's lawsuit?

[Algorem]

6. Elections board chief fails to block ouster

Hearing on Bennett dismissal to go ahead

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1175762154203130.xml&coll=2

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Mark Rollenhagen
Plain Dealer Bureau Chief

Columbus- Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett dug in his heels Wednesday despite losing a bid to block Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's effort to remove him from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

Bennett skipped a hearing in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in which his lawyer argued that the law Brunner was relying on for Bennett's ouster was unconstitutionally vague.

Judge John Connor rejected the argument and refused to block an administrative hearing on Bennett's removal scheduled for Monday in Euclid.


Bennett was busy on the phone with reporters Wednesday morning, blasting Brunner for hiring a regional director whom former Secretary of State Ken Blackwell had removed from her job as an Auglaize County elections director in 2005....



Two big victories boost Ohio's election protection movement

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2007/2525

by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
April 5, 2007

In a victory for election protection activists, Ohio's powerful GOP Chair Bob Bennett will be forced to face a public hearing on his removal as Chair of the Cuyahoga (Cleveland) Board of Elections. And in a second triumph, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has agreed, as part of a legal settlement, to take possession of the ballots and other key documents from the disputed 2004 election that gave George W. Bush a second term in the White House.

Brunner has requested the resignations of the entire scandal-plagued Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, which Bennett has chaired. Two Democratic members and one Republican have complied with her request. The BOE's executive director, Michael Vu, previously resigned amidst a cloud of scandal resulting from a mishandled primary election and more than $12 million in budgetary overruns. Two BOE workers have been given 18-month prison sentences for felony convictions stemming from what a government prosecutor called the "rigging" of an officially mandated recount for the 2004 presidential election.

Bennett has issued a legal challenge against his removal. But on Wednesday, April 4, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge John Connor ruled Bennett has to comply with Brunner's call for a public hearing on the matter. The hearing is scheduled for Monday, April 9.

A long-time GOP power broker, Bennett is a close personal confidante of White House advisor Karl Rove. He has been Rove's point man in Ohio's most populous county, which includes the Democratic voter rich city of Cleveland. A wide array of irregularities there were pivotal in giving Bush his narrow margin of official victory in 2004...