Alone in Ohio, officials cited homeland security

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http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/11/05/loc_warrenvote05.html

 

Friday, November 5, 2004

 

Warren's vote tally walled off

 

Alone in Ohio, officials cited homeland security

 

By Erica Solvig

Enquirer staff writer

 

LEBANON - Citing concerns about potential terrorism, Warren County

officials locked down the county administration building on election

night and blocked anyone from observing the vote count as the nation

awaited Ohio's returns.

 

County officials say they took the action Tuesday night for homeland

security, although state elections officials said they didn't know of

any other Ohio county that closed off its elections board. Media

organizations protested, saying it violated the law and the public's

rights. The Warren results, delayed for hours because of long lines

that extended voting past the scheduled close of polls, were part of

the last tallies that helped clinch President Bush's re-election.

 

" The media should have been permitted into the area where there was

counting, " Enquirer attorney Jack Greiner said. " This is a process

that should be done in complete transparency and it wasn't. "

 

Warren County Emergency Services Director Frank Young said he had

recommended increased security based on information received from the

U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of

Investigation in recent weeks.

 

Commissioners made the security decisions in a closed-door meeting

last week, but didn't publicize the restrictions that were made until

after polls closed.

 

" If we were going to make a judgment, we wanted to err on the side of

caution, " Commissioner Pat South said Thursday. " ... Hindsight is

20-20. There was never any intent to exclude the press.

 

" We were trying to protect security. "

 

WCPO-TV (Channel 9) News Director Bob Morford said he's " never seen

anything like it. " When he first heard about Warren County's building

restrictions, he said he understood concerns that too many people

could make the counting process " a circus. " But he said it's never

been a problem in the past, and that the county could have set up a

security checkpoint and had people show identification.

 

" Frankly, we consider that a red herring, " Morford said of the

county's " homeland security " reason. " That's something that's put up

when you don't know what else to put up to keep us out. "

 

James Lee, spokesman with the Ohio Secretary of State's Office in

Columbus, said Thursday he hasn't heard of any situations similar to

Warren County's building restrictions. He said general security

concerns are decided at the local levels.

 

Other counties, such as Butler County, let people watch ballot

checkers through a window.

 

Typically, the Warren County commissioners' room is set up as a

gathering place for people to watch the votes come in. But that wasn't

done this year.

 

And despite being told that there would be an area with telephones set

up for the media, those who tried to get into the building on Justice

Drive were stopped by a county employee who stood guard outside. After

journalists challenged the restriction, reporters were allowed into

the building's lobby - two floors below the elections office.

 

A representative of The Associated Press, which had stringers at every

Ohio board of elections site, said no such election-night access

problems were reported outside of Warren County.

 

County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel said commissioners " were within their

rights " to restrict building access.

 

Having reporters and photographers around could have interfered with

the count, she said.

 

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