The state representative Alicia Reece has introduced a bill that would reduce the number of reasons for making voters cast provisional ballots and also clarifies that election officials will be held responsible for errors instead of blaming voters.  

The phrase, ‘Cincinnati’s first openly gay council member’ has been regularly linked to Chris Seelbach’s name in media reports ever since his November election. In an interview last week, Seelbach told CityBeat that this label helped him win his seat on council and is an integral part of his identity as a man and a city leader, but it’s far from a complete picture of who he is.  

It’s a sorry fact that political party leaders in Hamilton County like to undermine voters when it suits their own interests, but now some Cincinnati City Council members are jumping on that bandwagon. People who follow local politics remember the odious deal struck last year between the local Democratic and Republican parties regarding the two separate Hamilton County Commission races.  

1776, 1865, 1945, 1968 and now 2008. There are some years that stick out in American history as significant turning points, with events occurring that are so momentous even those living through them know they’re witnessing history.   

Change is in the air across the United States, but some things remain constant: for example, the slow pace of tabulating ballots in Hamilton County. But given the dramatic finish to the nearly two-year-long race for the White House, the local problems were just an annoying delay.  

Cincinnati voters sent a mixed message on the two ballot issues before them, both placed on the ballot by a group of local activists and political organizations. Issue 8 failed, meaning City Council won't be elected via proportional representation, with Issue 7 passed, prohibiting the use of "red light" cameras.  

By 11 p.m. on Election Day, about 25 people were at Integrity Hall in Bond Hill talking or dancing to the music of a DJ. Just 25 people in a room with that DJ, a TV and a snack table with corn chips and sheet cake with red, white and blue frosting, watching in amazement as the first biracial person was elected president of the United States. "His life is the perfect example of inclusion," said Ken Ghee, a psychology professor at the University of Cincinnati. "His color is a merging of Caucasian, African, Hawaiian."  

Ohio might have turned Democratic blue Tuesday night, but Hamilton County and the southwestern part of the state sent mixed signals about whether it embraced the tides of change. State Rep. Steve Driehaus unseated seven-term U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot in the 1st District, while U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Miami Township) claimed victory in the 2nd Congressional District.  

Democratic incumbent Todd Portune and Republican Greg Hartmann, endorsed candidates who received money and volunteer help from their respective parties, easily won in their separate Hamilton County Commission races. Still, Ed Rothenberg, an unendorsed Republican who challenged Portune, and Chris Dole, an unendorsed Democrat who vied against Hartmann, each nabbed more than one-third of the votes cast in the races.  

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