Elections must be kept free of controversy

Elections officials must do everything they can to prevent November’s general election from becoming murky. Too much is at risk for this country to have people becoming suspicious of one of the few civic duties citizens have: voting.

With the Ohio Voting Safety Plan released by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, there are 48 points to enhance the ability of county elections boards to keep voters and election officials safe.

The plan include routine cleaning of voting machines and e-pollbooks, face covering requirements and regular hand washing for all poll workers.

But in-person voters are encouraged to wear a mask, just as they do at grocery stores and restaurants.

One of the points includes making curbside voting available on Election Day, which is a viable option for people who are physically unable to enter a polling location.

LaRose makes it clear that no one can or should be able to prevent electors from casting their ballot, even if the elector chooses not to follow the recommendations in place to protect poll workers and other voters.

Another issue for elections boards is continuing efforts in recruiting poll workers for Election Day.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Aug. 13 that he’s confident that Ohio’s mail-in voting system will be successful despite concerns regarding the U.S. Postal Service’s ability to process a large amount of ballots.

DeWine declined to comment when he was asked by a reporter if he agreed with LaRose’s decision Aug. 12 to ban boards of elections from using more than one drop box for absentee ballots.

At a news conference, LaRose said he wanted to assure Ohioans that the Nov. 3 election will take place as planned.

LaRose said it’s too late to make the change of adding more drop boxes before November.

As the state’s top elections official, LaRose should be able to make an order to add more than one drop box.

And if more drop boxes will ensure that more people will vote, why not have more than one?

This issue came about because voting-rights advocates and elections officials had requested extra drop boxes at places like public libraries as a way to reduce in-person voting lines and relieve pressure on the mail system while the country is in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

We urge people not to wait until the last minute to request an absentee ballot to vote.

With 2020 a strange year, it doesn’t need to get any stranger because of issues with people voting in the November general election.