Black Box Voting

The Ohio Secretary of State's website has hacked.  This October surprise seems aimed to harrass and intimidate.  The bigger concern is that the attacks could threaten sensitive records and functions of the site. And the SOS is taking precautions.  In a press release Monday, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner announced that "the state website has been set in a static mode with limited functionality as a precaution."  The press release also cites "denial of service" attacks against both phone and email, and which include threats of harm and or death, as well as a suspicous package.

These attacks follow a fight by the GOP to purge voter rolls in the state.  SOS Brunner's recent victory in court to prevent unfair purging of the voter rolls due to database mismatches was a blow to the state GOP party. There is a tug of war between the Democratic Secretary of State verses the Ohio State GOP Party over control of Ohio's elections. Meanwhile, the governor has accused the Ohio GOP of scare tactics. “In the last few days the Republicans have tried to instill fear in Ohio voters about whether their registrations to vote will be challenged and whether they will be able to cast a ballot,” said Strickland.

"John in Cincy", a long time verified voting activist in Ohio opines that: 

My guess is this is at least a “denial of service” attack taking place on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website and office. The threatening package is pretty scary too. This type of operation was detailed by Republican operative and convicted felon Allen Raymond in his book, “How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative” (2008).

Read the SOS' press release after the jump: