Akron, Ohio Beacon Journal staff writer Lisa A. Abraham reports. Excerpt:
The chairman of the Summit County Board of Elections wants all board members to take polygraph tests voluntarily to protect the board’s integrity.
Russell Pry made the suggestion at a board meeting Tuesday night.
The county Democratic Party chairman said he would put a formal motion on the agenda of the board’s next meeting.
Pry said he thinks the tests would serve to clear the board’s reputation in light of recent “bad press” it has been getting over mistakes made by elections workers. He noted the ongoing criminal investigation into the lost elections petitions of Akron City Councilman Joe Finley, D-2.
Finley had to sue to get his name on Tuesday’s primary ballot after the board lost his petitions. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.
Republican board member Alex Arshinkoff questioned whether the sheriff wants board members to take the tests.
Pry said the sheriff had not asked for that. The sheriff, however, has been testing elections employees over the missing petitions.
“I’m not going to take a polygraph test with Diane Evans’ husband,” said Arshinkoff, who is the chairman of the county Republican Party.
Evans, a staff writer for the Akron Beacon Journal, is married to Bill Evans, a local private investigator and one of the area’s leading polygraph administrators. Arshinkoff has been an outspoken critic of past Beacon Journal coverage.