Dos and don’ts for being a responsible voter

With voting as the most important civic responsibility for all citizens this fall, we offer another wrapup on election process developments in the past week.

• Plan to have postage. In a lawsuit brought by the Ohio Democratic Party, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Stephen Mcintosh agreed that voters should be able to submit an absentee ballot request by email or fax. However, the order was almost immediately stayed for an appeal by Secretary of State Frank Larose.

While Larose has asked the legislature to create such a system, he argues doing it now would pose security issues. So, keep a stamp handy to mail in your ballot request if you don’t want to chance COVID exposure by voting in person.

• Keep another stamp in reserve. Larose had said he also wanted to pay the postage for voters who complete absentee ballots but a request to spend $3 million was rejected by the state Controlling Board on Monday in a party-line 4-2 vote.

Some of Larose’s fellow Republicans said the matter should be decided by the full legislature, not the smaller body with purse-strings purview. A House-passed bill that would allow the payment is pending in the Senate.

Democrats argued that Larose could apply federal CARES Act funds to ballot postage but the secretary said those dollars are committed for election security. Look in the couch cushions for another 55 cents, the current cost for a first class or Forever stamp.

• Anticipate Franklin County how-to-vote ads. In recent years a partisan squabble on the Franklin County Board of Elections locked up ads that Franklin County commissioners and other Democrats wanted to run to educate local voters on where and how to vote. Republicans resisted the effort as unnecessary.

Now the elections board of two Democrats and two Republicans — its political balance required by law — unanimously agreed to run ads produced by Larose; then the all-democratic board of commissioners objected.

While details are being worked out to get ads on the air, you can educate yourself on the elections board website: https://vote.franklincountyohio.gov/

• Don’t wait up for Nov. 3 election results. With maybe half of Ohio voters opting this year to use absentee ballots to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection, some mailed-in votes might not be known for days, even weeks, after the polls close.

Larose said recently that results reported election night should be viewed as unofficial, as always, and outcomes could change by the time all absentee ballots are counted. He explained county boards are prohibited from giving updates between election night and completion of the official canvass.

The challenge is that county boards are required to count any ballot postmarked by Election Day, Nov. 3, even if many arrive as much as 10 days later.

Larose said his office will announce on election night how many absentee ballots were requested but not yet received to be part of that day’s tally.

• Don’t procrastinate. Voter registration ends Oct. 5; early voting begins Oct. 6, and postal delays are a possibility. Getting ballots in early is the best way to make sure your vote counts.