Marion County Board of Elections 222 West Center Street Marion, Ohio 43302-3646 Phone: 740-223-4090 fax: 740- 223-4099 Office of the Ohio Secretary of State Attn : Director of Elections P.O. Box 2828 Columbus Ohio 43216 November 21, 2018 Dear SOS, On November 8, 2018 the Marion County Board of Elections met pursuant to ORC 3501.09 and the meeting went as follows: The Marion County Board of Elections met in special session. A motion was made by board member Steve Chaffin and seconded by Phyllis Eshman-Thomas to terminate the employment of Director John Meyer. Both Mr. Chaffin and Mrs. Eshman Thomas are Democrats, The other Board Members voted not to terminate Mr. Meyer. (Minutes attached). The Democrats reasons for the termination are as follows: The L & A test performed on 9-13-18 by John Meyer and Election Specialist Jackie Fields ( the Deputy Director, Sue Schwamberger, was not present because her son was on the ballot) was inaccurate in that the totals of each countywide :ace on the ballot rotation did not match. The Deputy Director advised the Board of this and the Board Chair, Phyllis Eshman- Thomas determined that a new test was needed, The Director John Meyer dismissed the need for this retest. Mr. Meyer refused to run the test and refused to sign onto GEMS, until he was advised by another board member, Steve Chaffin, to sign into GEMS so the Board could continue the process. This was a direct act of insubordination. Mr. Meyer had been previously advised verbally and in writing that further acts of insubordination would result in disciplinary action. The Director John Meyer after being advised that the River Valley School District had requested that a levy be withdrawn, removed a levy from ballot. In one Precinct, Richland Township B , there was a split between two school districts. RTB/1, was in River Valley School District andRTB-2 was in Pleasant School District. However, when the absentee ballots were mailed out, RTB/1 had the Pleasant School levies on their ballots. The error was discovered by a voter after 104 incorrect ballots were issued, This was not a computer issue as the Director had advised the Board, but a failure to proof read, On Election Day, when a Board member delivered ballots to polling location Crosswoods, it was discovered that the thumb drives for the techs to download/upload all absentees on the poll pads, was not programmed correctly by the Director. Voters were forced to vote provisional when they should have been allowed to vote on the machine. It has been the primary responsibility of the Director to oversee this process. Mr. Meyer has created animosity and hostility within the work place and fostered a definite divide among the staff. Mr. Meyer has demonstrated a bullying attitude and has thrown temper tantrums. As a result of Mr. Meyers actions , a number of people will no longer work at polling locations or during elections. We have had many complaints about him verbally mistreating other county employees, specifically, Nicoletta Maniaci and Dan Russell. Further on Election night the Director used verbally abus ve language when answering questions by a board member, Phyllis Eshman-Thomas, again after having been warned about this conduct. Mr. Meyer has created a hostile relationship with vendors, Keith Cunningham and Ken Terry of Know Ink, Jose Trejo and Alice Teynor of Triad, a retired employee of Triad. Union County Deputy Director, Brandon Clay, was told by John Meyer that Brandon was to speak directly to John prior to speaking with any of the staff in our office on return calls or otherwise. John asked for Union County Board Member's names and threatened to call them at any time if Brandon did not go through John first During the final weeks before the Fall Election, Mr. Meyer admitted on television that he had used an office email account to conduct partisan political activity in violation of Secretary of States ethics polity. This activity contributed to tre overall atmosphere of distrust. During the Election night on November 6, 2018, while ballot bags were being returned to the office, it was discovered that 2 ballots from the primary election had not been removed from the ballot bags. The Director was responsible for ensuring that all ballots are counted. Subsequently on November 19, 2018, the Director discovered that 254 votes from TSX machines were not counted on Election Night. This process was under his control during the Election process.All of these incidents and his lack of professional attitude towards the staff, the Board and the Public , led the two board members to vote to remove Mr. Meyer. Sincerely SHS bell Steven E. Chaffin Phyllis Eshman-Thomas