Hooray: Husted says vote fraud is rare

Ohio's Republican Secretary of State Jon  Husted offered his scintillating version of the Husted Hustle to a Washington forum  on Monday to defend his inspired antics to restrict voting in last month's election.    

The Plain Dealer quoted him on the perils of his job, which, in the spirit of the holiday season, I could only respond with a "Ho, ho, ho"  over my morning coffee.    Speaking from his Olympian experience as the state elections chief, Husted  cautioned the panel that controversy comes with a gallant effort to assure maximized access and accuracy in voting. (Others in the GOP have openly declared the whole ugly process was invented to help Mitt Romney.)

Still, Husted  sought the sympathy vote, saying: "If you want to find that balance and run a good controversy-free election, don't become a secretary of state in a swing state."

As one who claims he fought the good fight through the courts all the way to the Supremes, who decided not to hear the case,  Husted said he is simply guilty of defending the law. However, in the Cincinnati Enquirer report, Husted did manage to concede that "vote fraud is a very rare occurrence."

But now that he's mentioned his job as a bad career choice for people   who can't suffer the pain of  controversy, we can only add that we hope he doesn't become the Ohio secretary of state a second time.