ProgressOhio

"Today Gov. Strickland has made a decision that I support in the best interest of Ohioans. Many Ohio election officials, election reform advocates, academic observers and Ohio citizens worked tirelessly in 2007 and 2008 to prepare Ohio for a presidential election that would be watched around the world. Working together, they helped make Ohio's 2008 presidential election a smooth and successful process that encouraged voter participation for the future.

While the stated intentions of legislative leaders for passing S.B. 380 are worthwhile, the challenges faced in 2008 in administering hastily adopted laws with unintended consequences demonstrated that election law changes need a comprehensive, inclusive and deliberative approach. Thanks to the wisdom of former legislatures, the directive authority of the Secretary of State was available to protect the rights of Ohio voters as many of these laws were implemented for the first time during a presidential election in Ohio. This avoided excessive and costly litigation for Ohio at a time when the state can ill afford it.

Ohio's voters deserve an orderly election process conceived to place the interests of voters in a fair, transparent and accountable process above the private interests of political parties, caucuses or particular candidates or office holders. History has shown that laws governing elections are at the heart of the rules of fair process, and the best way to craft these rules is by thoughtful, inclusive and deliberative discussion.

That type of discussion began on Dec. 2, 2008 with an Ohio Election Summit attended by more than 200 participants from throughout Ohio. Plans are underway to address and craft solutions for the issues identified during the Dec. 2 summit at a continued, more comprehensive forum in early March of this year. By vetoing S.B. 380, Gov. Strickland has enabled Ohio to continue to move forward in a positive manner, building on the success of the November 2008 Ohio presidential election toward becoming a model for the rest of the country."