de facto bar against altering voting machines by remote access. Containers in which ballots are

as to whether state and federal laws were violated by Barbian's conduct: Ohio Revised Code

defines a ballot as "the official election presentation of offices and candidates...and the means by

which votes are recorded." OH I O RE V . CO D E § 3506.01(B) (West 2004). Therefore, for purposes

of Ohio law, electronic records stored in the Board's computer are to be considered "ballots."

Triad's interference with the computers and their software would seem to violate these

Further, any modification of the election machinery may only be done after full notice to

the Secretary of State. Ohio Code and related regulations require that after the state certifies a

voting system, changes that affect "(a) the method of recording voter intent; (b) voter privacy; (c)

retention of the vote; or the (d) communication of voting records,"401 must be done only after full

notice to the Secretary of State. We are not aware that any such notice was given to the

Finally, Secretary Blackwell's own directive, coupled with Ohio Revised Code

§ 3505.32, prohibits any handling of these ballots without bipartisan witnesses present. That

section of the code provides that during a period of official canvassing, all interaction with

ballots must be "in the presence of all of the members of the board and any other persons who are

entitled to witness the official canvass." The Ohio Secretary of State issued orders that election

officials are to treat all election materials as if the State were in a period of canvassing,402 and

that, "teams of one Democrat and one Republican must be present with ballots at all times of

Triad has sought to respond to these charges by arguing that Ohio law requires a Board of

Elections to prevent the counting or tabulation of other races during a recount and limit these

activities to those offices or issues for which a formal recount request has been filed.404

However, this requirement does not supercede the above requirements that election machinery

only be serviced or otherwise altered in the presence of the full elections board and observers.

OH I O RE V . CO D E § 3515.04.

OH I O ADMIN . CO D E § 111:3-4-01 (2004).

Mehul Srivastava, Greene County Elections Board Scrutinized; Office Containing

Ballots Found Unlocked Overnight, DA Y T O N DA I L Y NE W S, Dec. 12, 2004, at B1.

Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, Absentee/Provisional Counting and Ballot

Security, Directive 2004-48 (Oct. 29, 2004).

OH I O RE V . CO D E § 3505.31.

85