COLUMBUS - State Rep. Jim Trakas, a newly announced candidate for Ohio secretary of state in 2006, said yesterday he's a fan of electronic voting.
But he'd prefer county election boards made the decisions as to which machines they prefer.
The Independence Republican stopped short of criticizing current Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's recent decision to require optical-scan devices for all 88 counties.
Instead, Mr. Trakas took aim at lawmakers who enacted a law requiring that electronic, or touch-screen machines, be equipped with a paper backup system that can be used for recounts.
Mr. Blackwell has cited that decision as making computerized, touch-screen machines impractical and unaffordable.
"I think we can either change the [voter-verified paper audit trail] language that the legislature inserted or, if need be, eliminate that language so that we can get up to the times," Mr. Trakas said."I hate to see something the legislature did late in the session last year, probably under political pressure, take precedence over important public policy, and it is critical that this state use electronic voting," he said.
Mr. Trakas, 39, until recently chairman of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, formally announced his candidacy yesterday for the statewide post that serves as Ohio's top elections officer and oversees the business and organization incorporation process.
Other names mentioned as potential candidates for the Republican nomination include Ann Womer Benjamin, Ohio's insurance director; Greg Hartmann, Hamilton County clerk of courts; and Robert Montgomery, Franklin County recorder.
Mr. Blackwell cannot seek a third four-year term.
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