A couple of convictions just handed down (via the Cleveland Plain Dealer):

A jury found two Cuyahoga County elections workers guilty Wednesday of charges that they skirted Board of Elections procedures to thwart a countywide ballot recount after the divisive 2004 presidential election.

The jury convicted Kathleen Dreamer, 40, of Cleveland and Jacqueline Maiden, 59, of Richmond Heights on one felony and one misdemeanor each…

… Some Internet bloggers and others have complained ever since the 2004 general election that backroom shenanigans at the county Board of Elections rigged results to throw Ohio’s 20 electoral votes – and the presidential election – to President Bush.

Prosecutors have assured the public that nothing the board staff did affected the outcome of any race. The county recount actually showed Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, gained a net of 23 votes, yet Bush won the state by more than 118,000 votes.

Rick Moran takes a closer look and concludes:

To try and single out one party or another for disapprobation for the way they handle elections locally or state wide is ridiculous. This is a national problem that cuts across party lines and regions.

This case highlights that fact. My purpose in bringing it to your attention is not to savage the Dems but to show that problems in Ohio – a flashpoint for the left in their conspiracy-addled brains – had as much to do with incompetence and ignorance as it did with some hidden agenda by Diebold or the machinations of the evil Republicans.

The question isn’t whether there is a problem with the way Republicans run elections or the way that Democrats run elections but in the way that elections are run in general. The sooner we come to agreement on that singular conclusion, the quicker we can address the problems associated with the most precious freedom we have; the right to choose our leaders.