Editor’s note: The following letter addresses statements made by Portage County Board of Elections member Amanda Suffecool in an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal, which paraphrased her in the following way: “Suffecool herself remains unconvinced that Biden beat Trump despite courts across the country — including the U.S. Supreme Court — dismissing allegations of election fraud made by the president, his campaign and his allies.” The comments prompted several people to attend a recent Board of Elections meeting to show their disapproval of her statements.
I was appalled to read of the events that took place in the recent meeting of the Portage County Board of Elections. Unfortunately, Amanda Suffecool allowed her private opinions to detract from the excellence of our board in that meeting.
I do not speak idly of this excellence, with no factual basis. I have scrutinized the board for many years from the time that the error rate in voter registrations was one in eight nationwide but less the 0.1% in Portage County. That accuracy is essential for the public to have confidence in the board’s ability to conduct free and fair elections.
The controversy associated with Suffecool poses an unacceptable threat to the public trust for which the board has toiled so tirelessly to achieve. It has created a division among the members with the other three rejecting Suffecool’s position. It has demonstrated that Suffecool lacks the personal integrity to confine her activity to that proper for a member of the board. For all these reasons, Suffecool must go. Now.
Brian Ames, Randolph
Former Republican candidate for Portage County Auditor
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