Election officials discuss security

CELINA - Election officials on Tuesday morning discussed security measures and efforts to counter potential voter fraud at the polls during the November general election.

Last month, board of elections members talked about asking the sheriff to assign deputies to the polls because of the heated, divisive nature of presidential campaigns.

"We've never really had security on site except for those few occasions when we were in some of the schools and the schools wanted to have plain-clothes sheriff personnel in the building," director Laura Bruns had said.

Board member Phil Long on Tuesday said he's been in contact with sheriff Jeff Grey.

"(Grey) is putting together some plans," he said. "We've received some information from the secretary of state, so I think some things are in the works on that as well."

When contacted by the newspaper on Tuesday afternoon, Grey said he could not reveal the specifics of any security plan.

"Nothing has been decided yet," Grey said via email. "If we decide to take additional precautions, we probably won't discuss what they are for security reasons."

Elections officials on Tuesday also disclosed that concealed-carry weapons will not be permitted at any polling locations, a mix of public and private buildings. Board member Craig Klopfleisch previously had voiced concern about concealed-carry weapons, pointing to a March incident in which a man pulled out a gun at a Cleveland voting site.

The board of elections office is located within the county courthouse, where people are barred under Ohio law from carrying a weapon regardless of a valid concealed carry license, Bruns said.

"Because our polling locations are an extension (of the courthouse) then that automatically means that that also applies there," she said.

Klopfleisch also brought up new concerns about unauthorized observers and voter fraud at polls on election day.

"One of the presidential candidates is urging voters to be observers because of concerns about there being voter fraud or that kind of thing," Klopfleisch said.

He recommended officials "consider a press release, posting something on the door (at polling sites)" reminding people that unless they are formally acknowledged as observers, they should come in, vote and leave the site and not linger.

"It's always easier to say something - 'here are the rules of how you shall act in a polling place' - beforehand than to have somebody walk up to somebody in a polling place and say, 'you can't be standing around here lingering after you vote,' " Klopfleisch said.

"If you want to be an observer, there's a process that you have go through in order to be acknowledged as such," Bruns said.

According to the secretary of state's directives, appointing authorities of observers are any political party that is supporting candidates to be voted upon at that election, any group of five or more candidates and ballot issue committees recognized by the board of elections that are supporting or opposing a ballot issue.

People prohibited from acting as observers are uniformed peace officers, state highway patrol troopers, firefighters, armed service members and members of organized militia and any other person wearing a uniform. Candidates also are prohibited from observing unless they are a member of the party controlling committee.

On Election Day, a precinct election official must administer an oath to every observer.

Klopfleisch also said he's seen reports on regional TV news shows about "how easy it is for somebody to have a little hand programmer to take their voting card and reprogram it and vote again."

Poll workers should be urged during training sessions to be on the lookout for anyone spending a lot of time at a voting machine, he said.

Bruns, deputy director Deb Sneddon and board member Toni Slusser said it would be very difficult for a voter to commit fraud as described by Klopfleisch.

"Literally they would have to understand the rotation of the ballot, the splits," Slusser said.

"Unless the (hand programmer) had the same security loaded on it that the programming machines have and the voting machines have and the electronic poll books have, it won't work," Sneddon said. "You have to have that security key and the only people that have that security key are Laura and I."

Long said it's key that poll workers remain vigilant throughout Election Day.

Bruns said because of Any Line Any Time voting - in which all voters are directed to a single table to obtain their ballot - extra poll workers will monitor voting on Election Day.

"They are watching. They are able to pay attention," she said.

Board members approved deploying all 169 electronic voting machines to the county's polling locations: the Galleria in Celina, Coldwater Municipal Center, Rockford Community Building, Mendon Firehouse, Franklin Township Building and American Legion posts in St. Henry, Fort Recovery and Maria Stein. They also approved a pool of 300 poll workers eligible to work at the election.