COLUMBUS, Ohio - In the turbulent weeks before and after the presidential election in this battleground state, Kenneth Blackwell's fairness and integrity as Ohio's chief elections officer were called into question at almost every turn.
After all, Blackwell is an ardent Republican and was President Bush's honorary campaign co-chairman.
The Ohio furor - and a similar uproar in Florida during the disputed White House race of 2000 - have raised this question: Should top election officials be allowed to participate in the very campaigns they oversee?
It will be a hot topic at a meeting of the nation's secretaries of state next month. Also, a U.S. senator is promising to propose a ban on campaigning by election chiefs.
The public must be assured "that we are not participating in any type of manipulation," said Democrat Rebecca Vigil-Giron, New Mexico's secretary of state and president of the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Secretaries of state are also chief elections officials in 39 states. All 50 identify with a political party, but some are appointed instead of elected.
The issue has risen to prominence largely because of Blackwell, who as Ohio secretary of state oversaw the election in the state that ultimately sent the president back to the White House. Among other things, the conservative black Republican tried to enforce an old rule requiring voter registration forms to be printed on 80-pound paper, and was accused of trying to suppress the black vote by rejecting ballots cast in the wrong precinct.
He also drew criticism more recently when it was disclosed that he sent a letter to GOP donors thanking them for helping deliver Ohio for Bush.
Blackwell "pushed the envelope as hard as any secretary of state ever," said James Ruvolo, the Ohio chairman of John Kerry's campaign. "Once you are elected there is an expectation you will not be the leading partisan. He shouldn't be the head cheerleader, and I think that's where he's gone wrong."