Trump connection to local ballot delay

[Dan Alaimo]

Link to NY Times article:
In Ohio, a Printing Company Is Overwhelmed and Mail Ballots Are Delayed
https://nyti.ms/2H5MNF7
----
Along with others in Lakewood, I was concerned that my absentee ballot was taking so long to arrive. I dropped off our applications shortly after they were available. They were approved and processed on Sept. 11, they were scheduled to be mailed on Oct. 6, but my tracking shows they were to be placed in the mail Oct. 12. We received them Friday, Oct. 16.

There is still time before Election Day, and I had anticipated delays of some kind - probably the U.S. Mail, but not this. The printer is Midwest Direct in Cleveland, which said it was overwhelmed by such ballot requests, which sounds a little fishy to me considering all the publicity mail voting got because of the pandemic and the Democratic Party. How could they not be ready?

But one more thing. The company was flying a Trump 2020 campaign flag until recently, the Times reported with a photo. Trump has a well-known animus toward mail voting, which should raise many questions - top to bottom, far and wide - about this incident. All our local, county, state and federal representatives should be looking into it.

There's one word for it:
UNACCEPTABLE

[Dan Alaimo]

Fhe. Cleveland area media is starting to catch on. This from WKYC.
"The company has recently experienced massive delays in their production of mail-in-ballots and was flying a 'Trump 2020' flag over the summer."
https://www.wkyc.com/mobile/article/new ... 725faeabb4

My comments
1) Despite my request at the earliest time in September, my absentee ballot didn't arrive until yesterday, Oct. 16, because of this delay. Unacceptable in any scenario.
2) This printer said they were overwhelmed by an unanticipated number of absentee ballot rquests. On that I call B.S. because of the heavy coverage on the news, and the experience of states holding late Spring primaries. How could they or the responsible officials not know?
3) The printing company's owner is an unabashed Trump supporter, flying a "Trump 2020" flag until recently at his place of business, as is his right but it raises questions if something goes wrong with election ballot printing. Something went badly wrong.
4) Trump is vociferously opposed to mail balloting (except for himself). Trump is also pressing every lever he can to influence the election. Besides the printer, the top officials in Ohio are stauch Trump loyalists, notably Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), who has ultimate authority over elections. I've never known the Board of Elections to be anything but fair, but who knows at this point.
5) All our big 'D' Democratic representatives should be screaming bloody murder at this point.
UNACCEPTABLE

[Dan Alaimo]

Fhe. Cleveland area media is starting to catch on. This from WKYC.
"The company has recently experienced massive delays in their production of mail-in-ballots and was flying a 'Trump 2020' flag over the summer."
https://www.wkyc.com/mobile/article/new ... 725faeabb4

My comments
1) Despite my request at the earliest time in September, my absentee ballot didn't arrive until yesterday, Oct. 16, because of this delay. Unacceptable in any scenario.
2) This printer said they were overwhelmed by an unanticipated number of absentee ballot rquests. On that I call B.S. because of the heavy coverage on the news, and the experience of states holding late Spring primaries. How could they or the responsible officials not know?
3) The printing company's owner is an unabashed Trump supporter, flying a "Trump 2020" flag until recently at his place of business, as is his right but it raises questions if something goes wrong with election ballot printing. Something went badly wrong.
4) Trump is vociferously opposed to mail balloting (except for himself). Trump is also pressing every lever he can to influence the election. Besides the printer, the top officials in Ohio are stauch Trump loyalists, notably Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), who has ultimate authority over elections. I've never known the Board of Elections to be anything but fair, but who knows at this point.
5) All our big 'D' Democratic representatives should be screaming bloody murder at this point.
UNACCEPTABLE

[Stan Austin]

What I find so infuriating is the printing companies owners reluctance to respond rationally to questions. Usually the Board of Elections has been very businesslike and rational in its selection of vendors. This is off the charts.

[Dan Alaimo]

What I find so infuriating is the printing companies owners reluctance to respond rationally to questions. Usually the Board of Elections has been very businesslike and rational in its selection of vendors. This is off the charts.

Trumpers.

[mjkuhns]

Nine counties have now dumped Midwest Direct, according to Scene.

It does not appear that Cuyahoga County has taken this step, yet, but it needs to do so. I wrote to board of elections members yesterday: "Midwest Direct has been repeatedly incompetent, and uncommunicative to elections officials, under even the best possible interpretation of its handling of ballot contracts this fall. Even if the company was not at any point dishonest, it's inarguable that the company 'wasn’t honest' either, in the words of Summit County BoE chair Bill Rich."

Whether the company has been trying to hide incompetence, or trying to hide ill intent, neither is acceptable.

[Dan Alaimo]

Nine counties have now dumped Midwest Direct, according to Scene.

It does not appear that Cuyahoga County has taken this step, yet, but it needs to do so. I wrote to board of elections members yesterday: "Midwest Direct has been repeatedly incompetent, and uncommunicative to elections officials, under even the best possible interpretation of its handling of ballot contracts this fall. Even if the company was not at any point dishonest, it's inarguable that the company 'wasn’t honest' either, in the words of Summit County BoE chair Bill Rich."

Whether the company has been trying to hide incompetence, or trying to hide ill intent, neither is acceptable.

Matt,
As I have said, I was one of those affected. It is incomprehensible to me that Midwest Direct and whatever officials it was in contact with could not have predicted an unprecedented demand for absentee/mail ballots. This was outrageous and now, learning a bit more of the scope of the problem, I find it hard to accept that it was just some kind of oversight.

I have been stalled on making calls/sending messages because I'm not sure who is best to reach out to.

Can you make some suggestions?

[Amy Martin]

What really bothers me has to do with the Trump flag. This is a BUSINESS, not a private residence. Most workplaces have implicit directives against mixing political views with the workplace. I seriously doubt that every employee of Midwest Direct is a Trump supporter. For a place of business to take such a stance put their workforce in an unenviable position.

Secondly, how can a CEO of a direct mailing company state the following with a STRAIGHT face . .

"It is fair to say that no one - not the various boards of elections, not Ohio's Secretary of State, not our company - anticipated the staggering volume of mail-in ballot requests that has actually occurred".

That statement alone proves how inept their management actually is. Making excuses rather than taking accountability is a classic Trumpian response.

[mjkuhns]

I have been stalled on making calls/sending messages because I'm not sure who is best to reach out to.

Can you make some suggestions?

You bet. Contact information for all board members and permanent staff is provided here:

https://boe.cuyahogacounty.gov/en-US/bo ... staff.aspx

(I wrote to the director and the four board members)

[Dan Alaimo]

What really bothers me has to do with the Trump flag. This is a BUSINESS, not a private residence. Most workplaces have implicit directives against mixing political views with the workplace. I seriously doubt that every employee of Midwest Direct is a Trump supporter. For a place of business to take such a stance put their workforce in an unenviable position.

Secondly, how can a CEO of a direct mailing company state the following with a STRAIGHT face . .

"It is fair to say that no one - not the various boards of elections, not Ohio's Secretary of State, not our company - anticipated the staggering volume of mail-in ballot requests that has actually occurred".

That statement alone proves how inept their management actually is. Making excuses rather than taking accountability is a classic Trumpian response.

l

They had a constitutional right to fly the flag, and it was just fine until there was a problem where undue influence was suspected by a president hell-bent on fixing the election. Then there were questions, big questions.

[Dan Alaimo]

I have been stalled on making calls/sending messages because I'm not sure who is best to reach out to.

Can you make some suggestions?

You bet. Contact information for all board members and permanent staff is provided here:

https://boe.cuyahogacounty.gov/en-US/bo ... staff.aspx

(I wrote to the director and the four board members)

Thanks, Matt