Re: Steve Christopher Signatures
On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 12:20 PM, Matthew C. Naugle wrote:
Greetings all
I received your email address from conservative activists who noted you collected signatures for Steve Christopher. That is fantastic... but it appears that Jennifer Brunner's office literally misplaced an entire pile of signatures. not good
I've heard there is an excel file which was sent to Board of Elections showing that Christopher's count of 2000+ signatures is correct.
Here are Brunner's low numbers she reported:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28146016/Steve-Christopher-Sec-of-State-Worklog
So do you have comments about how many signatures you collected and what you think happened that I can publish? Or if not, any off the record comments?
I run RightOhio.com, which is the most widely read conservative blog in Ohio. The media watches my site closely, and reporters seem ready to cause problems for Sec. Brunner on this issue. Your input is greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Matt
614-525-1541
Mr. Naugle,
Here is the text, with slight amendment for clarity, of comments I posted on my Face Book page today:
I see that a narrative has developed: Steve Christopher is crazy. He can't count, and wasted all his time going to the Sec. of State's office to turn in a pile of signatures that he ought to have known was inadequate. Except that I called the S.o.S. office myself to inquire after the location of the signatures I myself gathered (about 90). Montgomery County Board of Elections only received 4 (you read right: FOUR) for validation. A nice young lady named Alison in the Brunner's office claims that the candidate never turned them in.
Fair enough, I said to her. "Suppose in a couple years I want to run for some office, and I have to turn in my nominating petitions in the Secretary of State's office, like Christopher did last month. What process do I have to follow to ensure that I don't end up in the same boat that he's in now, holding a receipt for 2750 submitted signatures, but being subsequently told that I only turned in 788?"
(A Their word against mine. More precisely, their word on Feb 18th versus their word now!)
"What procedure does your office have in place to prevent discrepancies like this?"
The answer I got: "We don't have one."
"In other words, the receipt you give out is worthless. Is that what you're telling me now?"
Silence.
So, in the absence of any verifiable proof that Brunner's office is telling me the truth, I guess I'm free to believe whom I choose. Since I gathered nearly 100 signatures myself, I choose to believe that the Candidate turned them in. Why shouldn't I?
Respectfully submitted,
Phil Herzing
Dayton, OH
Press Release 03.10.2010
For Immediate Release
Press Release From Conservatives for Steve Christopher
Steve Christopher has been forced to fight for the past five days to have his name rightfully placed on the May Republican primary ballot. Christopher was disqualified by the Ohio Secretary of State for allegedly failing to obtain the 1,000 needed signatures, when in fact he submitted over 2,700 signatures. We found that a very large number of signatures never made it to the proper Board of Elections Offices for validation. Christopher felt that this was a serious issue involving the voice of almost 2,000 citizens, which compelled him to obtain legal counsel.
Yesterday, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner issued a press release entitled, “SECRETARY BRUNNER RESPONDS TO UNFOUNDED ALLEGATIONS.” In this release, Secretary Brunner stated that she did not know why Steve Christopher would not contact her office. In fact, a representative for the Christopher campaign did visit the Secretary of State’s office on Monday regarding this situation. In this meeting, it was reiterated by Secretary of State personnel that the 788-signature count would stand. Election laws are very specific and if Christopher would have waited for a resolution, he would have lost his legal recourse to be placed on the ballot. Christopher retained legal representation to ensure his right to be on the ballot. Christopher’s legal counsel is attempting to arrange a meeting with the Secretary of State’s office, and will discuss the issue of the campaign’s copies of its petitions.
Secretary Brunner states, in this same press release, that the number of signatures purported on the receipt is given by the candidate. The number of signatures on the receipt given to Christopher was filled out by a Secretary of State employee. The employee accepting these petitions does this for a living and could easily detect a discrepancy of almost 2,000 signatures, merely by size of the stack of paper.
Today we obtained an Excel spreadsheet file that was created and distributed by the Secretary of State’s office to all 88 Ohio county Boards of Elections. This spreadsheet was created on February 18th at 5:51 PM, over five hours after Steve’s petition submittal. We can produce this document upon request, pending the approval of the campaign’s attorney.
We continue to receive numerous calls and emails from citizens who have signed and/or circulated petitions. They have tried to verify that their signatures or petitions made it to the appropriate Board of Elections offices. We have found that numerous petitions were never received by the
Steve Christopher is committed to continue to fight to keep conservative Ohioans’ voices from being silenced at the ballot box in the May Republican primary. He has not cancelled any event appearances.
Thank You,
Mark Lucas
Media Relations Director - 614-266-2412 – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Conservatives for Steve Christopher
http://www.meetup.com/Steve-Christopher-for-Ohio-Attorney-General/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steve-Christopher-for-Ohio-Attorney-General/334306033304
Press Release 03.09.2010
For Immediate Release
Press Release From Conservatives for Steve Christopher
On March 9, 2010, we issued a press release concerning lost or missing petitions from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. Approximately 2,750 signatures were obtained and submitted to the Secretary of State’s office. The petitions containing these signatures were submitted to place Steve Christopher on the Republican primary ballot this May. Somehow, only 788 signatures were processed and sent to the appropriate counties for validation. Almost 2,000 signatures were lost or never sent to the proper boards of elections for validation.