Council approves $280K for voter education ads

Central Ohio Democrats have found a way to get publicly funded advertisements to alert voters about early voting times for the November general election over the objections of local Republicans.

The Columbus City Council, all Democrats, voted Monday to spend $280,000 on the ads after two Republicans on the Franklin County Board of Elections stymied efforts to do the same thing at the county level. The money will come from the city’s general fund, which is primarily income-tax revenue.

In an emergency resolution brought from the floor Monday, the council voted 6-0 to approve the contract with the GOP firm Strategic Public Partners to purchase TV, radio and digital voter-education ads. Strategic Public Partners is expected to hire Triumph Communications, a Democratic firm, as a subcontractor.

“Rather than engaging in partisan bickering about basic voter education, I am committed to funding nonpartisan information about candidates and issues, as well as basic information about where to vote," Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said in a news release.

The county elections board had proposed spending $275,000 to advertise the election, but the board’s two Republican members voted against the plan, saying voters are aware of the issues and polling locations.

The county commissioners, all Democrats, planned to hire a firm themselves, but