by Sean Bowditch

The Ohio Secretary of State website was temporarily taken off line yesterday after a security incident. The State Highway Patrol has now launched an investigation after a breach was detected late Monday. According to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, the action was taken "to protect state records and data" and "the vote of every eligible Ohio voter from any kind of fraud".

It's been a rocky week for Brunner. Her office has also received several threatening phone calls as well as a suspicious package containing a white powder. A call to Brunner's office produced little additional detail. They would not elaborate on the security breach or the nature of the threatening calls. The website is now back up and running.

The Secretary of State's office and the state Republican Party have faced off in recent weeks over a handful of voting issues. The core of the argument centers on some 200,000 newly registered Ohio voters whose registration information doesn't jive with state or federal databases. The state GOP is pushing for an investigation into possible fraud. The two sides have been in and out of several courtrooms lately, capped last Thursday by an appeal to the US Supreme Court. The high court, acting unanimously, sided with Brunner by tossing out the lower court ruling.