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OPINIONS
Ashley C. Stinnett: Ky. secretary of state interested in W.Va. politics
I recently had the opportunity to attend a fundraiser in honor of Cabell County Commissioner Nancy Cartmill. The event was hosted at the home of local attorney and former state Republican Chairman David Tyson.
Shortly after the evening kicked off, I was informed that Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson would be arriving for what would be his second trip in as many years to the Huntington area to help a Republican candidate win re-election. Surprised and impressed, I quickly grabbed my notepad and pen to inscribe all the information I could from one of Kentucky's highest ranking officials.
I found Secretary Grayson nestled in one of the kitchen corners, Coke in hand, sporting a big grin along with a 6-foot, 7-inch frame. Without hesitation, Grayson gave high praises to his good friend and our very own Secretary of State Betty Ireland.
"She is one of the hardest-working officeholders in the country," Grayson said. He went on to explain that in West Virginia and Kentucky, the secretary of state plays a much bigger role than the general public is aware of. Interestingly enough, West Virginia has a much more powerful voting system authority than its neighbor across the river. Kentucky's office puts a great emphasis on businesses filings along with library and archives.
During our conversation, I had to note that, in my opinion, many of West Virginia's voting problems seemed to be in the past. To be quite honest, it seems we are in better shape than Kentucky. Right now, Kentucky has 113 counties out of 120 that are voting on automated lever machines. Thirty to 40 counties are now voting on new optical scan machines, which are a growing trend across the United States. These machines are still considered paper ballots but are handled by a much more sophisticated scanner that takes pictures of the ballot to avoid fraud.
"The voters in our state love the new systems," Grayson said. He added Kentucky could have machines in every county by the end of his term.
I had to ask Grayson, who is in his second term, why he felt the need to help candidates in West Virginia. After all, that sort of thing really doesn't happen a lot on state-level races. He said he had met Tyson four years ago when he campaigned for Ireland at Marshall University. He then spoke at the Cabell County Library during a leadership training seminar.
"West Virginia issues matter to Kentucky, "he said. "The impact of politics never stops at the state border."
Of course, Tyson once again proved to me that he cares about the future of not only Huntington, but West Virginia as well.
What I thought would be just another fundraiser consisting of a lot of hot air, big checks and loud chatter actually turned out to be a great opportunity to learn some new things. Of course, it also proved that no matter where you are, there is a journalist lurking in the shadows.
Ashley C. Stinnett is chairman of the West Virginia Young Republicans and is campaign director for James Teets, the Republican candidate for West Virginia commissioner of Agriculture. Stinnett is a former citizen member of The Herald-Dispatch editorial board.
