The Union County prosecutor accused the state's elections chief of abusing her authority by requiring counties to offer paper ballots in the March 4 primary — and he said Union County won't pay for them.

Prosecutor David W. Phillips said that his county, like 56 others in Ohio, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on electronic voting machines since 2005 and the machines have provided accurate results.

Phillips, a Republican, spoke in an emergency hearing late this afternoon in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Phillips said that requiring paper ballots would cost his county at least $68,000 for materials and require additional poll workers.

The hearing was called because Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, succeeded in having a lawsuit filed by Union County transferred to Columbus.

Before that happened, Union County Common Pleas Judge Richard E. Parrott, a Republican, issued a restraining order to block Brunner's January directive that all Ohio counties provide voters with a paper ballot if they ask for one.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Eric A. Brown was asked to immediately end Parrott's restraining order to allow Brunner's plan to take effect.

Brown said he will rule Monday.

Because the case is being heard in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, a similar request from Brunner in federal court will be dropped.


Lawyers for Attorney General Marc Dann, representing Brunner's office, said Union County has the optical scanners it needs to read printed ballots. The scanners are usually used for counting absentee and provisional ballots.

“This is an issue about giving Ohio voters the choice. There are some Ohioans who feel uncomfortable in continuing with electronic voting machines,” Assistant Attorney General Richard Coglianese said.

But Phillips said that voters “have that paper option now under the current system in Union County. They can vote absentee.”

He said Union County officials question Brunner's “authority to order any county to provide two different systems.”