OHIO STATE JOURNAL ON DISPUTE RESOLUTION (Vol. 27:2 2012] for empaneling an election tribunal to resolve contested elections provides an example of just how difficult a task it is to find people who the public will accept as truly neutral in a contested election. 42 Even if mediation did have some use in election disputes, would the idea be dead on arrival given the difficulty of identifying a true neutral?43 The mediator choice problem leads to another of the biggest challenges mediating election disputes: fmality. There is no guarantee in mediation that the parties will emerge with an agreement. When agreement is not reached, mediators take solace in the belief that mediation has at least facilitated communication and understanding between the parties. 44 From this perspective, failure to reach a settlement is not a failure on the part of the mediator if the parties walk away with a better understanding of the other side's interests and their own. But some disagreements simply require finality; election disputes fall in this category, particularly given the timesensitivity inherent in all post-election disputes. Someone must take office. This leads to a further difficulty. Mediation is often seen as the best alternative in disputes that involve ongoing relationships. 45 Elections, acknowledged as a potential drawback of mediating election disputes. Telephone Interview with Howard Bellman, Mediator/Arbitrator, August 15, 20 II. 42 Edward B, Foley, The Analysis and Mitigation of Electoral Errors: Theory, Practice, Policy, 18 STAN. L. & PoL'Y REV. 350, 378-79 (2007) ("Consider a fivemember court that convenes only when an election contest is filed. Its members consist of four judges who already sit on other general-jurisdiction state courts. These four members are selected, one each, by the majority and minority leaders of both houses of the state legislature. These selections occur at set intervals, so that these members of the court are known in advance of any election contest that may occur. The fifth member is an attorney, whether a currently sitting judge or not, chosen by the mutual agreement of the other four members. This fifth member also serves for a specified term, with a new fifth member chosen by the other four current members, when the previous fifth member's term has expired. In this way, also, the fifth member is always specified before an election contest arises."). 43 Election Attorney Ben Ginsberg sees neutrality as the single biggest impediment to mediating election disputes. Telephone Interview with Ben Ginsberg, Partner, Patton Boggs LLP (June 2, 2011). 44 Some mediators feel that their job is not even aimed at achieving a finalized agreement. "Transformative" mediators, for example, do not view "problem solving" as the goal. Instead, they see party empowerment, communication, and recognition as the object of the mediation exercise. See ROBERT A. BARUCH BUSH & JOSEPH P. FOLGER, THE PROMISE OF MEDIATION: RESPONDING TO CONFLICT THROUGH EMPOWERMENT AND RECOGNITION 108-12 (1994). 45 Frank E. A. Sander & Lukasz Rozdeiczer, Matching Cases and Dispute Resolution Procedures: Detailed Analysis Leading to a Mediation-Centered Approach, 334 HeinOnline -- 27 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 334 2012