Ohio’s director of elections has told Hamilton County Democratic chairman Tim Burke that a voter information poster Burke objects to must be posted in all polling places.
Burke, who is also chairman of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, wrote an e-mail to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted asking if the board was required to put up the two-foot by three-post with Husted’s name in large letters at the bottom.
Husted is a candidate for re-election; and Burke told WVXU he believed it amounts to electioneering inside polling places, which is not allowed.
But, late Tuesday night, Matt Damschroder, Husted's deputy assistant and director of elections, sent Burke an e-mail saying that state law requires the secretary of state to “prepare rules and instructions for the conduct of election” and “compel the observance by election officers in the several counties of the requirements of the election laws.”
“The voter ID post, which we have indicated must be posted in each polling place, is consistent with these affirmative duties,’’ Damschroder wrote.
Burke told WVXU Wednesday morning that the Hamilton County Board of Elections will put up the posters, but that he still questions “the fairness of Husted benefiting himself.”
Damschroder said in his e-mail that it is common for elected officials, including the secretary of state, to use the official seal and/or logo of their office when issuing any such rules” to identify the material as official.
