David Kern was chosen Wednesday evening, 3/20/2013, by the Butler County Republicans to be recommended to the Ohio Secretary of State to fill the Butler County Board of Elections seat vacancy created by the sudden resignation of long-time member Tom Ellis.
The Central and Executive Committees met at Lake Lindsay Lodge where Kern defeated Mark Haverkos 82 votes to 38. A simple majority is required to send the recommendation to the Secretary of State. The recommendation of the county party is binding unless the Secretary of State finds just cause to refute the recommendation.
Kern also serves as a Liberty Township trustee and is chairman of the Butler County Republican Party, and plans to retain those two positions while devoting “all time necessary” to the Board of Elections position. Haverkos heads a Cincinnati computer firm and planned to serve as “figurehead only” of that firm, if elected, in order to devote full time to the Board of Elections.
When a partisan county position becomes vacant, any county resident may apply to that county’s same party for the interim appointment. Only Kern and Haverkos sought the appointment to the vacated seat on the Board of Elections.
In other business, Board of Elections Director Lynn Kincaid reported that the Secretary of State has ordered boards of election statewide to study reducing the number of precincts in order to cut the costs of elections. The study is in-progress and no conclusions have been reached, but Director Kincaid did open the floor to questions and comments from those in attendance. Several committee members expressed concern that some precincts were already under-represented, and feared that consolidation of precincts would exacerbate this condition.