The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Early voting begins
Lake Elections Board seeing a lot of activity from voters
Lake County Elections Board Director Ross McDonald likened the Feb. 19 start of early voting to the first day of an advent calendar leading up to the March 17 primary election day.
McDonald said that between Feb. 19 and 20, the board is mailing out 2,735 early voting ballots.
Of that total, 1,427 are Democratic ballots, 1,074 are Republican ballots, 230 are issues-only ballots and four are Libertarian ballots.
“We are seeing an uptick in absentee requests coming in the last three or four days,” McDonald said.
“It’s almost like the voters are becoming more and more aware of the election.”
Ohio’s primaries are typically held in early May, but like many states it pushes up that date in presidential election years.
McDonald said that on the Feb. 18 voter registration deadline day, the board “had a ton” of phone calls making sure they were registered to vote and questions about how to register.
They also received a lot of questions regarding how to register (or change) political parties.
“Ohio is a semi-open primary election,” McDonald said. “While the actual ballot content itself is exclusive to the party, voters may freely switch party affiliation without filling out any registration or challenge forms.”
Voters can declare their party affiliation at the polls or can ask for a nonpartisan issues-only ballot.
Those seeking to vote issues-only should be aware that not every precinct has issues on the ballot. There are only a few precincts in Lake County without issues, however.
No precincts in Mentor-on-the-Lake have issues on the ballot. In Kirtland, only precinct 1A has an issue (a liquor option) on the ballot. Voters in Willoughby 3C on the Kirtland Schools split side do not have issues on the ballot. Concord Township voters in precinct B on the Chardon Schools split side do not have issues on the ballot. Concord precincts D, E, H, J, K also do not have any issues appearing on the ballot. Kirtland Hills AA and Waite Hill AA (Kirtland Schools split side) also do not have issues on the ballot. McDonald said there could be an uptick in early voting after Super Tuesday on March 3 when 14 states — including California, Texas and Massachusetts — hold primaries. Some Democratic voters could wait to see how things shape up in the presidential race before picking a candidate.
While the Democratic presidential primary is the major draw of the March 17 election, McDonald is reminding voters that there are two contested Republican primaries for Lake
County administrative offices. Dave Ray is challenging incumbent Engineer James R. Gills. Gabe Cicconetti is challenging incumbent county Recorder Becky Lynch. U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge Township, also has a primary challenger in Mark Pitrone.
Though several Democratic presidential candidates have suspended their campaigns (and more still could drop-out between now and Ohio’s Primary Election Day) only votes for one candidate will not be counted. Cory Booker is the only Democratic presidential candidate to have formally withdrawn his candidacy in Ohio. Even votes for Andrew Yang, who is appearing on Ohio Democratic ballots as a valid write-in candidate, will be counted. Yang suspended his campaign Feb. 11. Feb. 6 was the presidential candidate withdrawal deadline in Ohio. Seventeen-year-olds who turn 18 on or before the Nov. 3 general election day were eligible to register to vote in the March 17 primary. McDonald said that 17-year-olds are only eligible to vote for candidates (with the exception of central committees races). They are not eligible to vote on issues, such as school levies.
This is the second election the Lake County Elections Board is conducting since its moved to its new location inside the recently expanded Lake County administration building. The office location is 105 Main St. Suite 107 in Painesville.
Lake County had a 46.69 percent registered voter turnout in the March 2016 primary election.
In office early voting hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 19-21; Feb. 24-28 and March 2-6. March 7 hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. On March -13, hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 14 hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 15 hours are 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. March 16 hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
In-office early voting hours are the same in Geauga County. The Geauga County Elections Board office is located at 470 Center St., Building #6-A in Chardon.