2nd election official quits in Ohio

A second elections board member in Ohio's most populous county quit Thursday, and a state official filed a complaint to remove the two remaining members because of persistent voting problems.

A day after saying he wouldn't step down, Democratic board member Loree K. Soggs resigned, Cuyahoga County elections board spokesman Alan Melamed said.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, informed board members Sunday that they had to resign by Wednesday or face removal.

Brunner, who took office in January, sent a complaint to the board's two Republicans _ chairman Robert Bennett, the head of the GOP in Ohio, and Sally Florkiewicz. A removal hearing will begin April 2, she said.

"While today's filing by the Secretary of State carries a lot of political overtones, the course we are about to take is a judicial process," Bennett said by e-mail. "Therefore, I will have no further public comment on this matter."

Repeated calls to Florkiewicz's home phone went unanswered.

The complaint said board members ignored warnings, including one by its own outside monitor, that a recount of the 2004 presidential election was being conducted in violation of state rules.

Two elections workers were recently sentenced to 18 months in prison for rigging the recount, not to affect the outcome but so they could avoid a more thorough review of the votes.

The complaint also said the board underestimated the cost of last May's primary by $500,000.

The other Democrat on the board, attorney Edward C. Coaxum Jr., resigned by the Wednesday deadline.

Soggs said he felt resigning was the right thing to do.

"I've tried to do everything I could to further the call for good and free elections," Soggs said.

The county, which includes all of Cleveland and has 1 million registered voters, has had difficulty adjusting to electronic voting. Last May's primary, the first attempt at electronic voting in the county, was marred by absent or poorly trained poll workers, lost vote-holding computer cards and a polling place that opened hours late.