I recently returned to Washington county after a 40-year absence. Today, along with 8 other members of the public, I attended the Washington County Board of Election meeting in order to get myself more familiar with the place I grew up. The meeting itself seemed pointless, regardless of where you stand on the state of election preparation in Washington county or election integrity as a whole.

Within the first 2 minutes of public commentary, the board, through its full-time bureaucratic staff, indicated it had not had time to address two specific public concerns it was presented with previously. Illness and a general malaise found within the Board membership were the proffered excuses. Additionally, the term “Liar” was bandied about by the Board members at least twice, in responses given back to the public. One member even cited to the Pony Express as a reason why hand counting ballots can’t be accomplished today.

This Board, in the face of being presented with multiple documents concerning voting machine irregularities and documented tampering, requested proof that it was cited in Washington county or the state of Ohio. Suddenly, relevant extrinsic evidence of problems with the machines used in Washington county is discredited because the examples exist outside the sphere of the Board’s ability to notice.

The instances cited above are merely a small representation of the hubris on display by officials who are appointed to represent and protect the same people they seem to hold so much disdain for. They openly brag in session that their boss is the Secretary of State. They make no claim that they are responsive to the desires or concerns of the residents of Washington county, as the Secretary is their boss. In fact, when a member of the public asked the Board if they ever considered polling the residents of Washington county about public concerns over election integrity, they were met by dead silence from the Board and the bureaucratic staff. Crickets.

I do not believe that political party affiliation has any bearing of why a body appointed to protect and represent the residents of Washington county holds so much contempt for those same people. It is obvious that the Board is a captured agency in that a greater portion of the public’s concerns are addressed by the full-time paid staff than by the Board members (easily confirmed by listening to the recording).

I could go on and on with the examples of how they intend to let us eat cake, but I invite you to listen to the recording of the meeting and then attend the next meeting on October 9th @8:30 to judge for yourself. Elections are not a right or left issue; they are an American principal established by the Constitution. That any member of the public has a concern over election integrity is notable and should be addressed in public discourse. Instead, when 9 members of the public do show up and present evidence and concerns, they are met with theatre of the absurd and tales from the Pony Express.

As a resident of the county and a 28-year veteran of the Army, I was embarrassed by the pomposity exhibited by the Board to the point one member replied he could not admit he was wrong. In my opinion, this is not how local Government was designed to operate. Regardless of your party affiliation we can agree that local government is designed to be responsive to the people. I invite you to attend the Board meeting in October to judge for yourself if the Washington County Board of Elections is indeed responsive to the people.