Some would say “if it’s not broke, then don’t fix it.” Maybe a better approach is “if it works pretty well, make it better.”

That may be the case as all the talk of election reform in Ohio will hopefully help make a strong system better.

For more than a year, many groups have lambasted the state’s election system and the way things were handled in the 2004 presidential election, though most allegations have proved unfounded.

Right now several issues are at play that could ultimately lead to election reform in the state, despite the fact that voters declined to approve four election reform measures on the November ballot.

Though we do not believe the problems in 2004 were as bad as many groups would have Ohio voters believe, our stance has always been that taking every effort to examine the process and system will only make it more sound.

The League of Women Voters has filed a federal lawsuit seeking changes to a system that the group contends fails to “provide absentee ballots, to count legitimate ballots and help disabled voters.”

One of the key requests of the lawsuit is that election officials receive better training. Though we feel that Lawrence County’s Board of Elections runs smoothly and does all it can to be fair, continued education is never a bad idea.

Along the same political lines, the Ohio Senate may vote on a bill this month that would prohibit the Ohio secretary of state from taking an active role with the campaign of any candidate or ballot issue.

The legislation stems from controversy surrounding Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell’s role overseeing a contested vote count in the presidential race while serving as an honorary vice chairman of the state-wide Bush-Cheney campaign.

Though we did not see any real problems that occurred, taking the partisanship out of the equation would give the naysayers one less thing at which to point.

Though the four constitutional amendments on election reform failed to pass in November, the system can obviously benefit from changes.

Whether through litigation or legislation, we hope to see a good system get better.