MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Board of Elections is not one of the 50 counties named in a lawsuit filed by a voter activist group on July 10. The lawsuit asks a federal judge to proceed with criminal contempt proceedings against counties that destroyed ballots and other voting records from the 2004 election.
“I don’t believe Knox County is one of the counties specifically mentioned,” said Paddy Schaffer, director of the Ohio Election Justice Campaign and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. “We’re looking at ... any of the counties that destroyed records.”
One of the goals of the lawsuit is to remove local board of elections members who violated laws by destroying paper ballots or other election records earlier than allowed. Election boards are usually required to save records for 22 months after an election. However, U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley had ruled that records from the 2004 election must be retained until August 2007.
Belinda Lanning, Knox County Board of Elections deputy director, said her office has not been contacted regarding the lawsuit, and that the board had taken steps to secure election records after the 2004 election.
“We were very careful with everything from that election,” Lanning said.
According to Lanning, all of Knox County’s records from the 2004 election are in the custody of the office of the Secretary of State and are available for review in a secure storage area in Columbus.
Schaffer said she hopes there will be a ruling in the case at some point next month.
