The Ohio Republican Party went after Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on Tuesday by accusing her of now supporting positions that she opposed during the campaign season.

The GOP is saying that Brunner has changed positions on the so-called "Golden Week" - a weeklong period of overlap of voter registration and early voting that allows just-registered voters to vote the same day as registering.

The GOP also accused Brunner of bipartisanship in her role as secretary of state, and used various editorials from Ohio newspapers to support their attacks on Brunner.

Brunner's office responded Wednesday by pointing to a Dayton Daily News editorial, and saying that Brunner is seeking "a well reasoned approach to election improvements versus the legislature's plan to rush through a measure during the lame-duck session."

Brunner spokesman Jeff Ortega pointed to the News editorial from Nov. 29 that calls the GOP "rush to change voting rules" during the 127 General Assembly lame-duck session a "ruse."

The editorial says that some lawmakers "want Ohioans to believe that something needs to be fixed - right now" and are "proposing to make changes in the early voting law in a lame-duck session of the legislature, rather than follow Secretary Brunner's request that everyone sit tight until after a December conference designed to be a bipartisan post-game wrap-up."

Ortega said that Brunner convened a summit on Tuesday "of the best minds inside and outside elections to begin a thoughtful process in terms of potential changes to Ohio's elections laws."

"The goal was basically to review what happened during what was widely regarded as a successful presidential election, to see what went right and also what could be improved," Ortega said. "Yesterday was the begining of that process, which will result in a report to the Governor and the Ohio General Assembly."

The News wrote that Republicans are "adamant about changing a law that they themselves wrote in 2005 that - inadvertently - allows people to register and vote in the same visit for a one-week window about a month before the actual election."

The News wrote that the "rush to pass the legislation" stems from the fact that Democrats are taking over Ohio's House in January, and "Republicans have been eager to make Secretary Brunner out to be inept and/or corrupt in anticipation of trying to take her down in two years," when she's up for re-election.

"Elections are supposed to be political," the editorial concludes. "The administration of them, however, should be resolutely nonpartisan. Rushing piecemeal bills through just so Republicans can say they fixed something is overstating the problem and overreacting."

The Ohio Democratic Party also responded to the GOP attack, calling it "disappointing" that the GOP would "rather launch bitter, partisan attacks on Secretary Brunner than play a constructive, bipartisan role in helping to improve upon our elections system after the successful November election."

"Thanks to Secretary Brunner's leadership, the November election was the best-administered in decades," ODP spokesperson Alex Goepfert said. "She stood up for all Ohio voters, making tough calls that didn't favor either party. It's time for the Ohio Republican Party to abandon their nasty, discredited attacks and work cooperatively with Ohio's leaders to craft comprehensive, bipartisan enhancements to Ohio's elections laws."

The ODP took on the Republican claims by issuing what it called a "Myth vs. Fact" point-by-point counterclaim:

MYTH: Secretary Brunner opposed observers during in-person early voting.

FACT: Secretary Brunner advised boards that Ohio law did not expressly provide for observers, and that boards using different rules could cause legal problems. Secretary Brunner hailed the Ohio Supreme Court's decision and swiftly implemented rules to fill the gap in Ohio law based on that decision.

MYTH: Secretary Brunner "fought for" the voter registration and early voting overlap.

FACT: Secretary Brunner simply implemented the law, as written, passed, and signed by Ohio Republicans. Some form of the overlap had been in place since at least 1985.

MYTH: Secretary Brunner has "changed her position" regarding this overlap.

FACT: The GOP-controlled General Assembly fought against Secretary Brunner's recommendations, including a longer period for mail-in early vote ballots, and a shorter period for in-person early voting coupled with the option of more voting locations in each county.