Voting guidelines to change due to virus

Lorain County Board of Elections Director Paul Adams said his office is prepared for voting changes.

Lorain County Board of Elections director Paul Adams said his office prepared for the new law Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law March 27 because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

House Bill 197 eliminates in-person voting and board of elections across the state will receive absentee ballots until April 28 for the primary election.

“This piece of legislation states that every registered voter in Ohio be sent a letter explaining the new procedures,” Adams said.

The voting process will change slightly and include a form to fill out to receive a ballot.

Voters will need to mail in a form to indicate what kind of ballot they want.

Once the form is received and processed, ballots will be mailed to individuals and they must mail them back to the board of elections.

“People will need to identify which party they want a ballot for, or if they want a ballot just of issues,” Adams said. “It’s really important they fill that part out.”

This is the first time this has happened in the state of Ohio, he said.

“It’s uncharted territory for all of us,” Adams said. “At this point, we’re waiting to see what kind of turnout we’re going to have.”

Adams said he and his colleagues have been preparing for this situation.

“We’ve had a lot of contact with our printers and are trying to make sure we have everything organized and ready to go,” he said.

Safety precautions for those handling the mail are taken into account.

Gloves, hand sanitizer, soap and disinfectant wipes are available to those processing the forms and ballots.

“We’ve taken precautions to ensure that all of our staff is safe,” Adams said. “We don’t have to be directly in contact with people and that helps, but there are still risks.”

“People will need to identify which party they want a ballot for, or if they want a ballot just of issues. It’s really important they fill that part out.” — Lorain County Board of Elections director Paul Adams

RICHARD PAYERCHIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL FILE The Lorain County Board of Elections voted Nov. 19to reject 97 absentee and provisional ballots from the official vote count of the Nov. 5election. From left are board members Anthony Giardini, Helen Hurst, Marilyn Jacobcik and board Director Paul Adams. Board member Thomas Smith and Deputy Director James Kramer also were present.