Advocates to rally for in-person voting

Event today at Lorain County Board of Elections

Local advocates for in-person voting will rally at 11 a.m., Aug. 1, at the Lorain County Board of Elections, 1985 N. Ridge Road East in Sheffield Township.

The Free Ohio Now group has called for citizens to show their support for in-person voting on Nov. 3.

“At this time when there is great disagreement on the future course of our country, it is critical everything possible be done to give all people confidence and faith the Nov. 3, 2020, election will be conducted fairly and that the final results can be trusted, even by those who do not win,’ said Tom Hach, Free Ohio Now core team member. “An essential piece in building the faith will be conducting in-person voting. To support unifying goal of a free and fair election, all able-bodied Ohioans should consider it a civic duty to step forward to do their part to help operate the polls on Nov. 3, 2020.”

Free Ohio Now cited media reports about issues regarding mail-in ballots. Those ballots are rejected at a higher rate because the ballots are not signed or because they are sent too late, according to the organization.

“Recent primary elections have also demonstrated issues with local boards of elections being able to get the absentee ballots to the correct address, as well as problems with effectively processing high volumes of absentee ballots,” according to Free Ohio Now. “Every election is important but the November 2020 is more important than usual, and Ohio cannot afford to jeopardize the integrity of this important vote by eliminating in-person voting.”