Elections delayed, but plans in place

After a commotion of preparing for an off-again, on-again primary election, local election staff were catching their breath on the day Ohio voters were supposed to go to the polls.

Ohio’s March 17 primary was postponed to June 2 due to concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Between now and then, election workers will prepare to help voters cast absentee ballots or get ready for a later visit to the polls.

“I think the governor and the secretary of state selected June 2 because we’re all hopeful that will put us outside the COVID-19 risk,” said Marilyn Jacobcik, chairwoman of the Lorain County Elections Board.

“But there’s so much that’s out of our control that whatever we’re asked to do, we’ll just step up and do it,” Jacobcik said.

Unprecedented

March 16 likely will have a place in Ohio history books due to the flurry of activity around Ohio’s primary election.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, state health staff and at least two courts were wrangling over a possible delay of Ohio’s primary in hopes of minimizing face-toface contact for poll workers and voters.

“I don’t think there’s a time in Ohio history that this has ever happened before and the changes happened very rapidly, too,” said Jacobcik, a former director of the Lorain County elections board and regional liaison for elections for the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.

LaRose published a directive to county boards of elections outlining procedures to prepare for the June 2 primary.

Voter registration

Feb. 18 was the voter registration deadline to vote in Ohio’s March 17 primary election.

That deadline will not be extended, so anyone who missed it will not get more time to register for the June 2 primary.

Voters may register to vote in the November general election and elections workers will process those registrations at this time, said Lorain County Board of Elections Director Paul Adams.

No in-person absentee voting

In-person absentee voting is not available at the Lorain County Board of Elections from now until June 2, Adams said.

In Ohio, in-person absentee voting at the board of elections ends at 2 p.m. the day before the election, including the March 16 primary, Adams said.

LaRose’s directive makes no provision for restarting in-person absentee voting at the Lorain County Board of Elections office or any county, he said.

Mail absentee voting

Absentee voting will continue by mail for the June 2 primary.

On March 17, a number of voters already were calling the elections board office to ask about mail ballots, Adams said.

People may visit the board office to complete a form requesting a mail-in ballot, he said.

But Adams recommended using the elections board website to print the absentee ballot request form or call the board office to get the request form.

Then the exchanges of forms and ballots can take place by mail.

Adams said he recommends telephone or mail over an office visit due to concerns about spreading COVID-19 through personal contact.

Mail in your ballots

Absentee ballot applications must be postmarked by May 26.

Returned absentee ballots must be postmarked by June 1 and must be received by the boards of elections no later than June 12, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.

After the June 2 primary election, Ohio’s county boards of elections must have their final official vote counts by July 3, according to LaRose’s directive.

Political ads

The Ohio Secretary of State’s directive made no mention of political advertisements, mailers, yard signs, billboards and the like.

Based on the state rules, it appeared political campaign committees can continue to raise and spend money to advertise candidates and issues from now until June 2, Adams said.

However, candidates and campaign committees should consult local community rules because some municipalities limit times when people can put up political signs before and after elections, he said.

The election turmoil March 16 likely will not scare away voters on June 2, Jacobcik said.

Ohioans were expected to turn out March 17 for the Democratic primary to vote on that party’s presidential candidate, she said.

By June 2, the Democratic Party may have that decision pretty well wrapped up, so some voters might stay home instead of casting their ballots, Jacobcik said.

But Lorain County has some countywide and local races and issues, so voters should go to the polls on June 2, she said.

“There’s still plenty of reason for people to cast a ballot,” Jacobcik said. “I’m sure as we get closer to the election, there will be a lot more publicity on it to refresh people’s minds.”

The Lorain County Board of Elections office is at 1985 North Ridge Road East, Sheffield Township, Ohio, 44055. The office phone number is 440-326-5900.

The website is www.loraincountyelections.us/

Off again, on again

Jacobcik credited the local staff for doing an amazing job working late March 16 to hold an election if needed.

The work included setting up a poll worker training session for 5 a.m., March 17.

That meeting was not needed, Jacobcik said.

“It was incredibly stressful going through multiple changes in such major decisions this close to an election,” Adams said.

Board of elections staff were listening to DeWine’s news conference the afternoon of March 16 and heard the governor’s statement about postponing the primary vote.

That sparked an emergency staff meeting to shut down the election and recover the equipment, Adams said.

Walking out of that meeting, he said he began receiving text alerts about the court ruling that mandated the election proceed.

“At that point, if we need to hold an election, we need to get information to our poll workers,” Adams said, because many of them heard the same news reports the elections staff heard.

From that point on, the elections staff were working to get the necessary workers and materials ready for the election March 17.

That included efforts to recruit new poll workers by telephone, Adams said.

About 10:30 p.m., the elections board workers received word the election would be postponed.

“So, there was definitely a lot of stress going back and forth to determine what was going on,” Adams said.