Coalition of Ohio Groups Oppose Online Voter Registration

 

 

From The Ohio Christian Alliance --

 

 

A coalition of citizens groups

opposes online voter registration, S.B. 63

January 24, 2016

Dear Legislator:

S.B. 63, the online voter registration bill, has raised concerns that it may further threaten Ohio's voter integrity. Ohio's elections process has been under some scrutiny over the last several years due to an increase in reported voter fraud cases, specifically (SOS Post-Election Voter Fraud Report May 2013) (SOS Report December 2013 Non-U.S. Citizens Register and Vote in the Battleground State of Ohio). Franklin County reported more than ninety cases of double voting in the 2012 Presidential Election as reported in the Columbus Dispatch in June of 2013.

In addition, nineteen indictments were handed down in Hamilton County. A state-wide citizens' audit of Ohio county BOE's conducted in the aftermath of the 2012 Presidential Election also indicated a number of irregularities and suspicious activity through eyewitness accounts. What is clear in these reports is that voter fraud is a growing problem in the battleground State of Ohio, and more measures need to be enacted to get out in front of the problem. Although some legislative election reform measures have been passed addressing some of the concerns, more work needs to be done. Ohio is a must-win state for the campaigns, and there are those who would seek an advantage by trying to game the system.

To open online voter registration at this time would be ill-advised. There are a number of questions and concerns regarding the security of the online access and process of voter registration that S.B. 63 proposes. What the general public has learned over the last two years is that no website is secure from hackers.

When the secure websites of The Pentagon, The White House and other government agencies have been hacked, then the suggestion that this website will be safe is purely conjecture and wishful thinking. The list is long of major corporate websites that assured their users their websites were secure, yet have been victimized by the hacker and information contained therein disseminated. The list of victims reported by the media is long indeed, including the industries of banking, entertainment, major retailers, and others. They have all had their websites hacked and information stolen.

When it comes to the value of the voting process in our Republic, we need to proceed with extreme caution before the suggestion of online voter registration is seriously considered.This is no time for a cavalier attitude concerning the voter integrity process in Ohio.

At a minimum, implementation of any such legislative proposal should be delayed until 2017, and a trial run should be conducted to assure that the security of the website can be verified before full implementation.

The following groups oppose S.B. 63 in its current form.

Sincerely,

Christopher Long, President, Ohio Christian Alliance

Jeff Malek, Medina County Conservative Coalition

Ralph King, State Coordinator, Tea Party Patriots

George Momirov, Columbus 9.12

Tom Zawistowski, Portage County TEA Party

Cody Ragle, The Coalition

Lisa Woods, MCFAN (Medina County Friends and Neighbors)

Chuck Laughlin, Geauga County TEA Party

Arzella Melnyk, Grassroots Rally Team of Ohio

Linda Barry, Auglaize County Patriots

Steve Salvi, Ohio Jobs & Justice PAC

Ohio Christian Alliance is a non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting Judeo-Christian values in American government. Ohio Christian Alliance does not endorse any particular candidate or political party. OCA provides educational materials, including voter guides and scorecards.

Take Ohio Back for Ohio

From the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots --

Fellow Tea Party Patriots

As we continue the fight to save our country, we must not lose sight of the problems plaguing our state of Ohio. AS we all know, and as numerous reports, studies, and polls show, due to archaic tax laws and business killing policies - Ohio is dying a slow death.

As witnessed with our blown state budget, which is now akin to a Grand Canyon size gap, we must also concentrate our efforts here at home.

It is time for us to "Take Ohio Back for Ohio"

There is currently a package of 10 "job creating, tax-lowering, student & economic development -friendly" proposals in the Ohio House Economic Development Committee that are not only receiving no attention -- but they are being ignored. We cannot allow this to happen!

The Tea Party Patriots and all our fellow conservative groups in OH must save our state from hemorrhaging more jobs and further plunging into an economic abyss - we must Take Ohio Back for Ohio!

Our first step is to get educated on the "Future of Ohio" package languishing in the OH House. We have contacted the office of State Rep. Nan Baker (R-Westlake), the ranking minority leader on the OH House Economic Development Committee, & State Rep. Todd Snitchler (R-Uniontown) for more information on these proposals....

"Future of Ohio"

• Employer tax credit to hire unemployed Ohioans: H.B. 277 (Todd Snitchler) would authorize a nonrefundable tax credit for hiring and employing previously unemployed individuals. Ohio businesses that hire previously unemployed individuals will receive a $2,400 tax credit for each such employee that they employ. Each credit will be claimable for up to two years so long as the employee was unemployed for four consecutive weeks immediately preceding their hiring date; the employee is lawfully employable in the United States; and the employee is continuously employed by the employer claiming the credit for a period of two years.

• Small business capital loans: This bill would authorize the creation of a low to zero interest loan program for small businesses through the local business linked deposit program.

• Tax credits for Ohio graduates: H.B. 144 (Cheryl Grossman) would grant an income tax credit eliminating tax liability for five years for individuals who obtain a baccalaureate degree and who reside in Ohio. Eliminating the state income tax liability for graduates will allow them to use the extra money to help pay back their student loans and other debts incurred during college, as well as attract college students from other states.

• Tax credits for specialized crafts: This bill would apply the income tax provisions of H.B. 144 to any person in a trade who has reached the journeyman status or its equivalent.

• Estate tax relief: This bill would reduce the estate tax, authorize townships and municipal corporations to exempt from the estate tax by initiative any estate property located in the township or municipal corporation, and distribute all estate tax revenue originating in a township or municipal corporation that does not exempt property from the tax to the township or municipal corporation of origin.

• Small business regulatory reforms – S.B. Companion 3 (Keith Faber): S.B. 3, a package of small business reforms, is currently under consideration in the House State Government Committee and has been under debate since mid-March. In order to expedite passage of S.B. 3’s key provisions, we drafted companion legislation covering three key proposals to help businesses cut through bureaucratic red tape and provide accountability in crafting agency regulations.

• Small business resource portal: This bill would direct ODOD to create an online small business resource center (expanding upon the existing Ohio Business Gateway) on its internet website, to serve as a clearinghouse of information relevant to Ohio businesses.

• Private Sector compensatory time – S.B. 17 Companion (Kevin Coughlin): This proposal would provide more flexibility, allowing an employer to instead provide compensatory time, or paid time off of work. The intent of this legislation is to enable employers to provide a more family friendly work environment by providing flexibility for their employees. S.B. 17

• Tracking job placement success: This bill would require the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to submit annually to the leaders of the General Assembly a copy of the report submitted to the United States Department of Labor pursuant to the federal Workforce Investment Act and to make a copy of the report available on the department's website.

• Analyzing company exodus: This bill would require the Ohio Department of Development to produce a report of companies that have relocated out of Ohio, develop a standard questionnaire to elicit the reasons why those companies have chosen to leave Ohio, and share its findings with the legislature.

You can click here to read the press release.

Now -- to get this going, with the same energy we've already shown in our battle against a country-killing Cap & Trade bill and government run health care, we are asking phone calls, emails and letters be sent to Gov. Strickland, OH House Speaker Rep. Armond Budish, Democrat members on the OH House Economic Development Committee & your local OH State Rep's and urge them to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to saving jobs and saving our state!

Governor Strickland

Governor's Office
Riffe Center, 30th Floor
77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43215-6108
Phone: (614) 466-3555
Fax: (614) 466-9354
Email: Click Here

Speaker of the House

Armond D. Budish (D-Beachwood)
Address: 77 S. High St
14th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-5441
Fax: (614) 719-0008
Email: district08@ohr.state.oh.us

Economic Development Committee

Chairwoman

State Representative Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland)
Address: 77 S. High St
13th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-1414
Fax: (614) 719-0011
Email: district11@ohr.state.oh.us

Vice-Chair

Representative Denise Driehaus (D-31st District)
Address: 77 S. High St
13th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-5786
Fax: (614) 719-3585
Email: district31@ohr.state.oh.us

State Representative Michael DeBose (D-Cleveland)
Address: 77 S. High St
13th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-1408
Fax: (614) 719-3912
Email: district12@ohr.state.oh.us

State Representative Timothy J. DeGeeter (D-Parma)
Address: 77 S. High St
11th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-3485
Fax: (614) 719-3911
Email: district15@ohr.state.oh.us

State Representative Jay Goyal (D-Mansfield)
Address: 77 S. High St
14th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-5802
Fax: (614) 719-3973
Email: district73@ohr.state.oh.us

State Representative Tracy Maxwell Heard (D-26)
Address: 77 S. High St
14th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-8010
Fax: (614) 719-3580
Email: district26@ohr.state.oh.us

State Representative Matt Lundy (D-57th District)
Address: 77 S. High St
12th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 644-5076
Fax: (614) 719-3957
Email: district57@ohr.state.oh.us

State Representative Dennis Murray (D-Sandusky)
Address: 77 S. High St
13th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 644-6011
Fax: (614) 719-6980
Email: district80@ohr.state.oh.us

State Representative Debbie Phillips (D-Athens)
Address: 77 S. High St
11th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-2158
Fax: (614) 719-6992
Email: district92@ohr.state.oh.us

State Representative Raymond Pryor (D-Chillicothe)
Address: 77 S. High St
11th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 644-7928
Fax: (614) 719-6985
Email: district85@ohr.state.oh.us

State Representative Peter S. Ujvagi (D-Toledo)
Address: 77 S. High St
11th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 644-6017
Fax: (614) 719-6947
Email: district47@ohr.state.oh.us

Click here for all Economic Development Committee members. Click here to find your OH House Representative.

Ohio House Speaker - Armond Budish - A Democrat Double Standard!

In the next two weeks we will be hearing about how terrible the financial future of Ohio is. This will be advanced when the projected revenues for the state are expected in the next several days. While we are in financial trouble, in Rahm Emmanuel like fashion, a larger financial crisis will be portrayed. Why? Because it is time for the Conference Committees to start hammering out the different versions of Ohio' proposed budget for the next two years.

The conference committee is where the House will try to restore cuts and earmarks from their version of the budget that were removed in the Senate version of the budget. In reality, both versions are nothing more than smoke and mirrors until the projected revenues are reviewed. With 10.2% unemployment and a sinking auto industry - they are not expected to look good.

Along with education, one of the biggest drains on our budget is Medicaid and Nursing Homes....

The health-care program designed for the poor, regardless of age, gobbles up 38 percent of the state's current two-year, $52 billion budget. That's more than the state spends on primary, secondary and higher education combined. And nursing homes -- which are paid through Medicaid -- consume 22 percent of the state's Medicaid budget, the largest single portion. (PD)

So I ask... Would you feel safe if a person who has personal ties to the Nursing Home industry and makes a living off teaching people how to get around Medicaid laws played a major role in crafting the budget that will fund these programs?

If this obvious double standard does bother you, let me introduce you to Speaker of the Ohio House - Armond Budish...

Budish has built a national reputation advocating ways to take advantage of Medicaid, which has stringent income requirements. To qualify for nursing home care, a person can't have assets worth more than a few thousand dollars apart from a home.

In 1989, he wrote a book that discussed the subject, called "Avoiding the Medicaid Trap: How to Beat the Catastrophic Costs of Nursing-Home Care." And he wrote about the topic in columns for The Plain Dealer and Family Circle.

"How can we get prescription drug coverage if we have too much money?" asked one reader.

Budish answered in a 2002 Plain Dealer column by advising people with a home and $100,000 in savings to pay off debt and invest in exempt assets such as home improvements.

"You may put your CDs or stocks into your son's name to reduce your countable assets," he added. "If you need money later, your child can return it to you."

He still dispenses Medicaid advice on his weekly television show, "Golden Opportunities," which tackles issues of interest to older Ohioans. (PD)

Not happy with just advancing his own interests, Budish wants to share his power by helping out his longtime buddy and lobbyist for the Nursing Homes - Alan Melamed. Melamed personally donated $10,000 to Budish during his election campaign...

While Budish downplayed his role in crafting the budget, he can decide what line items make it into the House's two-year spending plan. And he came to the nursing home decision while his long-time friend and political adviser Alan Melamed acted as one of the industry's top lobbyists.

Melamed advocated for the Skilled Nursing Care Coalition, which represents three nursing home associations and led a public campaign against Strickland's budget.

Nursing home operators, their political action committees and employees contributed more than $72,000 to Budish in 2008, the year Democrats took control of the House and Budish maneuvered to become speaker with Melamed by his side. (PD)

Budish, Melamed, nursing homes, and Ohio Democrats feel their is no double standard and stress that we should not fear a thing - there is no pay to play. I agree! It is more like having your wife's attorney represent you in a messy divorce.

Ohio House Lame-Duckocrats Resist Supporting our Troops & Restoring Voting Integrity

In what many think would be a lame-duck session - it appears the House Republicans are rolling their sleeves up and getting some good legislation passed.

Passed (54-42) was a bill that would give bonuses to soldiers who served in the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan. Pretty much a no-brainer right? Nope - the democrats are mad the Republicans want to pay for the bonuses with money that we currently have. The democrats - allergic to pay as you go - want to sell bonds.

In what would have appeared to be a bi-partisan olive branch, the Republicans offered help to SOS Brunnehilda in cleaning up the election laws she was complaining about. Plus they also wanted to restore integrity in the voting process by eliminating the "Anyone Can Vote Week" (AKA - Golden Week).

From the PD

The bill would eliminate a "Golden Week" window in which citizens can register to vote and cast absentee votes at the same time. It would push the start of early voting from 35 days before the election to 20 days and require absentee voters to fully complete ballot envelope statements to be counted. Election observers would also be allowed to watch voting at all times.

House Speaker Jon Husted, a Dayton-area Republican, told reporters the bill was merely intended to implement recent Supreme Court rulings as well as clean up elections law that Brunner has said needs clarification.

But Rep. Dan Stewart, a Columbus Democrat, called the legislation "the wrong bill at the wrong time" and quoted the testimony of a handful of election law experts who all questioned why the bill should be passed now. "It's like dominoes: Everything you do then changes something else," Stewart said.

Dominoes? I agree! Once one illegally registered voter was knocked over, thousands more fell!

The "Golden Week" created chaos for county election boards. If I remember correctly - this is when Obama's nuts - ACORN - were out registering the same people 5, 6, 10, 25, 72 times! Didn't having to check, verify & reject tons of illegal voter registrations cause undue hardships on BOE's throughout Ohio? WE can only guess the added costs incurred from the extra man hours these verifications took.

So please 'splain Rep. Stewart - since nothing else is going on and it's supposed to be a lame-duck session - why is this not a good time to pass sound & sensible legislation? If now is bad - when is the time good? Is it when the dems have control of the House?

If they make it through Senate, Reverend Ted has stated he will veto the bills. So it goes business as usual for good government in Ohio - it doesn't happen!

Batchelder for Ohio House District 69

The PD notes after all the years Batchelder has served and the many great things he has accomplished over his years - he is still a tireless and dedicated official.

How often do we find that?

From the PD --

This district covers most of Medina County. House members serve two-year terms.

THE CANDIDATES:

William Batchelder, 65, a Republican, is technically a freshman legislator, but in reality is finishing his 32nd year in the House. Batchelder served from 1968 to 1998, left to be a judge in the Common Pleas and state appeals courts. He has a bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and a law degree from Ohio State University.

Jack Schira, 70, a Democrat, is a retired aerospace engineer and Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam and spent four years as a Brunswick Hills Township trustee. He has master's degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Oklahoma.

OUR VIEW:

Schira ran unsuccessfully against Batchelder in 2006. Although a bit bombastic, he has an impressive understanding of that fact that keeping educated young people in Ohio is central to improving the state's troubled economy. Schira is an informed candidate with the intelligence to serve well in the legislature.

Batchelder is a Statehouse and Medina County legend whose intellect and earlier accomplishments in the legislature prompted voters to return him to Columbus in 2006. But Batchelder has hardly rested on his laurels, as evidenced by a number of his recent legislative efforts - notably reforms to the workers' compensation system and passage of a bill to end payday-lending abuses. Few legislators are as conservative as Batchelder. None may be as bright.

Batchelder needs to be re elected for the simple fact of, not only is he good for his district, but he is one of the few guys that actually works!

Republicans Jump Ship & Dems Close in on Control of State House

The Plain Dull is reporting that former State Senator Boob Spada much prefers to be handed a job than work for it. Rev. Ted offered Boob a job with the state and now Boob can't run away from his race for Tom Patton's old House seat fast enough. And down Cincy way another GOP'er is jumping ship to worship at Rev. Ted's Temple of Holy Patronage...

From the PD
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How many Democrats does it take to get House Republicans to drop out of
swing districts? Just one -- as long as his name is Ted Strickland.

In a move that scrambles Republican plans to hold the Ohio House, a pair of GOP
lawmakers appear on their way to ending their election campaigns and landing
government posts offered by the Democratic governor.

Republican State Rep. Jim Raussen confirmed that he will leave his Hamilton County seat to take a newly created position as director of the Insurance and Financial Services department within the state development department. An official announcement of the position paying $115,000 annually is expected to come shortly.

Meanwhile, Republican sources are saying that state Sen. Bob Spada, a North Royalton Republican, will end his bid for the 18th District House seat to take a seat on the state employment relations board.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So how does a Republican get a patronage job? Well he of course he goes to the Democrats. This shows how weak the GOP has become not only on the local level, but also on the state level. When you have unprincipled candidates who will sell out to the highest bidder rather than fight for a seat this is what you get. Great candidate recruitment! Kiss the State House goodbye RINO's! Hold on tight kids, it's gonna be a bumpy November.