County pushes elections board to advertise
Franklin County officials might postpone final approval of 2019 spending authority for the board of elections until it approves a plan to broadcast public service announcements that inform residents about coming elections and new voting equipment.
County Administrator Kenneth Wilson said he has presented a draft memorandum of understanding to the elections board before budget hearings begin Monday, outlining a 2019 general fund allocation of about $9.4 million. A total of $245,000 of that would be earmarked to broadcast the ads.
"We want to lay out all of the expectations right off from the beginning," Wilson said.
But Brad Sinnott, one of the two Republican members of the elections board, called the move "a gimmick that is silly on its face."
"It is a waste to take taxpayer dollars to use those dollars to hire media consultants and pay for television advertising that there’s going to be an election," he said.
The county commissioners and the Republican members of the elections board have been at odds for weeks over the advertising issue, after Sinnott and Doug Preisse voted against spending up to $275,000 to advertise early voting. The board had paid for comparable announcements during elections dating back more than a decade.
Sinnott and Preisse said the spending was no longer necessary, noting that the county early voting center has been in the same location for several years, the secretary of state sends absentee ballot applications to all eligible voters and tens of millions of dollars in campaign spending already publicize the election.
The commissioners, all Democrats, countered that it was appropriate for the elections board to pay for nonpartisan public service announcements to promote early voting dates and hours and provide directions to the early voting center on Morse Road, as well as information for those wanting to cast an absentee ballot.
"With (Franklin) being the largest county in the state, it’s extremely important that we inform voters on everything that’s going to be different when they go to their polling stations," Wilson said.
The public service announcements are appropriate in 2019 and ’20, Wilson said, because the county plans to replace its voting equipment. Residents, he said, should be informed of the changes they will see at the polls and details of early voting and Election Day activities.
Sinnott said Republican opposition to the ad spending remains unchanged.
"During the course of the coming year, I would expect there to be a multifaceted approach to explaining to people that there is going to be a new voting apparatus in Franklin County," he said. "I believe the media will be reporting extensively on that. We would be continuing that from the board of elections in various ways and will do that, but the idea that we have to purchase paid advertising to inform people that there’s going to be an election and an opportunity to vote in it remains a wasteful expenditure."
Absent an agreement, Wilson said the county would ensure that the required operations of the elections board are funded.
"Dollars have been set aside in reserve," he said. "It’s not like we’re not taking into account the responsibility. ... We will not close down the operations of the elections board."