This is in response to false accusations against Terri Kohlrieser, candidate for judge of the Allen County Court of Common Pleas. We at the University of Akron, which oversees the Judicial Votes Counts website, erred when we inputted information about Ms. Kohlrieser’s background, wrongly listing service in another county, where she never served or lived.
This error was absolutely not the fault of candidate Kohlrieser. It was our fault and we accept responsibility.
Candidate data for the Judicial Votes Count website is posted by interns at the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. Our data show that Ms. Kohlrieser accurately submitted her information to the Judicial Votes Count project. The error in posting her information was made when our interns were copying and pasting information from multiple candidates.
It is unfortunate, too, that the League of Women Voters of the Lima Area, which pulls judicial candidate information from the Judicial Votes Count website, published the incorrect information in its local printed voter guide. However, Allen County voters can be confident in their local chapter of the League of Women Voters as it worked quickly to correct the publication error and to properly publish Ms. Kohlrieser’s information.
To the voters of Allen County, I can personally verify that Ms. Kohlrieser did nothing to misrepresent her credentials and that she did submit accurate information for our project. The error was not her own and we deeply regret any suggestion that she was at fault.
On behalf of all partners of the Judicial Votes Count project, we sincerely regret such an error and how it affected Ms. Kohlrieser’s candidacy for common pleas court judge.
John Green
Dean, Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, University of Akron
Partner, Judicial Votes Count
