State Auditor Dave Yost's comments about the possibility of getting into Cuyahoga County officials' pocketbooks should increase the odds of a federal probe of voting in Ohio, the county's law director says.

State Auditor Dave Yost�s comments about the possibility of getting into Cuyahoga County officials� pocketbooks should increase the odds of a federal probe of voting in Ohio, the county�s law director says.



�Going after the personal finances of public officials for trying to promote voter participation is unprecedented,� said Majeed G. Makhlouf. �I think we expect the Department of Justice to take the threat to voting rights pretty seriously.�



At issue is a new law passed by the GOP-controlled state legislature and signed by Republican Gov. John Kasich saying that the secretary of state�s office is the only government agency that can send out absentee ballot applications. The Cuyahoga County Council, at the behest of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald, passed legislation yesterday that would allow the county to continue sending out the applications.



Yost told The Dispatch this afternoon that his office likely would regard such an expenditure as an improper use of taxpayer money.



�At first blush I would say that is not a proper public purpose and would be subject to either a noncompliance citation or a finding for recovery, which would mean that the responsible officers would have to pay the money back,� the GOP auditor said.



Makhlouf called such remarks an attempt to �intimidate� Cuyahoga County leaders, adding, � That�s quite an attack on local government and home rule.� He said the county, governed by a voter-approved charter form of government, has the legal right to send out ballot applications.



�By definition a home-rule entity has the power to enact its own laws on matters of local concern,� Makhlouf said.



Yost doesn�t buy it, saying, �Cuyahoga County can no more get around that (state law) than they could set up their own supreme court.�



Another reason the county wants to handle its own absentee ballot process, Makhlouf said, is a longstanding agreement with the justice department to print bilingual elections materials because of a large Puerto Rican population.



Today�s moves came after Ohio House Republicans removed an amendment yesterday to a budget-modification bill that would have penalized Cuyahoga County and any others that sent out ballot applications an amount equal to 10 percent of the state-provided local government fund – about $1.7 million in Cuyahoga�s case. That attempt caused FitzGerald to ask for federal intervention to combat what he sees as voter suppression in Ohio.



Yost called the whole dispute �political theater� because the secretary of state already has agreed to send out absentee applications this fall.