The elections board indicated it is considering legal action against commissioners decision on Wednesday.
The Board of Elections announced Friday it will meet in a closed-door session at 2:30 p.m. Monday apparently to discuss whether it will ask a judge to reverse the decision.
In a statement issued in response Friday afternoon, the Stark County commissioners office, said, It is disappointing that anyone is threatening lawsuits that waste taxpayer money. It is also unfortunate that the Board of Elections misrepresented to the public and the commissioners the true cost difference separating the two competing voting systems by over 80%$ ($1.6 million).
The three county commissioners, all Republicans, voted unanimously Wednesday to reject a recommendation that the county buy 1,450 touch-screen voting machines sold by Dominion Voting Systems. The commissioners did not speak publicly on their vote but approved a resolution rejecting the purchase.
The decision created backlash and political opponents within his own Republican Party.
But, at least one Republican group, has his back.
The Republican Accountability Project launched a $1 million television and billboard campaign to express support for all Republicans who voted for impeachment. Defending Democracy Together, a right-learning anti-Trump advocacy group, is behind the initiative.
The group s leadership includes former Weekly Standard editor-at-large William Kristol, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and syndicated columnist Mona Charen. According to OpenSecrets.org, Defending Democracy Together was one of the top dark money spenders in the 2020 election.
The group put up nearly 100 billboards to support the lawmakers. Three of the billboards back Gonzalez, R-Rocky River, in Northeast Ohio; one of them in the Rocky River area. The other two are in Stark County.
Stark County commissioners expect to make a decision by March 15 on whether to approve buying Dominion voting machines for the general election in November, said Commissioner Bill Smith.
A vote could take place on Wednesday at the three-member board s weekly teleconference meeting, he said. It would be up to Stark County Administrator Brant Luther by Tuesday whether to put the item on the Wednesday agenda.
Smith said he has not yet decided if he ll vote to approve the purchase. Commissioners have met a few times in closed-door sessions to discuss the purchase of public property and met with the county s attorneys to discuss possible imminent court action. Smith declined to confirm if they discussed the voting machines purchase in executive session.
People on social media have been linking Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jane Timken to the actions of Stark County-based bearings manufacturer Timken Co., a publicly-traded company and not a private family-owned business.
But Timken, who announced she was running for Senate on Feb. 18, has never worked for the Timken Co. or TimkenSteel, which was spun off from Timken Co. in 2014.
Fact check: Her only link is through marriage. Her husband, Ward J. Tim Timken, Jr. is the great-great grandson of the company s founder, Henry Timken. Tim Timken was the CEO of TimkenSteel and is currently a Timken Co. board member. He is not taking part in the day-to-day operations of the company.