Elections

Ohio Will Not Rig The Electoral College

Good news -- Ohio's top lawmakers said today that they do not support plans to alter the state's winner-takes-all approach to the electoral college, much to the ire of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus who loves the idea.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Count Ohio's Republican leaders out of a GOP-backed effort to end the Electoral College's winner-take-all format in the Buckeye State and other presidential battlegrounds.

Spokesmen for Gov. John Kasich, State Senate President Keith Faber and House Speaker William G. Batchelder told The Plain Dealer this week that they are not pursuing plans to award electoral votes proportionally by congressional district.

Batchelder went a step further, saying through his communications director that he "is not supportive of such a move." And Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, the state's chief elections administrator, emphasized that he does not favor the plan either, despite Democratic suspicions based on reported comments that he said were taken out of context.

It's possible that the threat of being challenged in local elections is too great for some state politicians whose poll numbers are already too low to absorb a hit of this magnitude.

With that said, we should continue to watch Jon Husted like a hawk.

Husted's pre-election antics, which drew the wrath of local judges more than once and lead to the wrongful termination of several election officials in Montgomery County (disclosure: that's my county), are not forgivable.