Intrigue builds as the latest in the Brunner vs Bennett story unfolds.  After the third member of the Cuyahoga Board of Elections, Sally Florkiewicz, a Republican, resigned last week, Robert Bennett, chairman of the BOE, and also chair of the Ohio Republican Party, is the lone holdout, refusing to step down as Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has requested.

In further defiance Bennett filed suit against Brunner for violating his constitutional rights and saying that her accusations against the board are vague.  Friday's Cleveland Plain Dealer further states that the suit argues the definition of misfeasance and nonfeasance are not clear in Ohio law, that Brunner cannot remove Bennett for actions that happened before she took office, and that she wanted to remove him because he supported her opponent in the 2006 election.

Monday, SOS Brunner placed the Cuyahoga County BOE under administrative oversight "because it is without enough members to muster a quorum required to conduct business."

Ohio's new Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, promised to restore trust in Ohio's elections. Having made many constructive changes in her few short weeks in office, last week, in a dramatic move, she has decided to clean house at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.  

Prompted by the many scandals and irregularities that have marked that county's elections, especially the recent conviction of two Cuyahoga County election workers and their sentencing to 18 months in prison for rigging a recount in 2004, Brunner took the bold move last week of asking for the resignation of the two Democrats and two Republicans on the Cuyahoga Board of Elections.

As of today, the two Democrats have resigned, but the two Republicans, Sally Florkiewicz, and Robert Bennett (who acts as the BOE chair, while at the same time serving as chair of the Ohio Republican Party) have resisted. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Bennett blames the voting machine vendor for the problems in 2006, and says that County Prosecutor, William Mason, was at fault for the 2004 problems, claiming Mason knew about procedural problems and did not correct them.  It has been reported that Mason has asked for an investigation of Cuyahoga BOE's conduct in the 2004 election.