Wednesday, October 16th, 2019
Early voting starts
By William Kincaid
CELINA - Officials are in full-on election mode as early voting for the Nov. 5 general election got underway last week.
Mercer County Board of Elections members this election are rolling out new voting equipment, a ballot-marking system from Election Systems & Software. It entails 160 ballot-marking devices, 24 scanners/ballot boxes and one high-speed scanner for the office.
Voters will be provided with a ballot card containing a barcode, which they will insert into the marking device. They then will cast their votes on a touchscreen and print out the ballot card, which they can review to ensure their votes are marked as intended. The ballot card will then be placed into a scanner/ballot box.
"We plan on implementing every machine that we have over the course of the election," board director Deb Sneddon said at Tuesday's regular meeting. "We have a couple set up for poll worker training."
Appearing on the ballot are mayoral, council, school board and township trustee races as well as local tax issues.
Early voting for the November election began Oct. 8 via in-person and by mail-in absentee ballot. The board of elections will be open for in-person voting 8 a.m.-5 p.m. through Friday and Oct. 21-25; 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Oct. 28-Nov. 1; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 2; 1-5 p.m. Nov. 3; and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov. 4.
Requests to vote by mail must be in writing and addressed to the board of elections no later than noon Nov. 2. Application forms are available on boards of elections' websites.
Absentee ballots returned by U.S. Mail must be postmarked no later than Nov. 4 and received by boards of elections by Nov. 15 to be counted.
Ohio voters can cast absentee ballots by mail or in person before Election Day without giving a reason.
Sneddon said those who have cast their vote early on the new system commented on how easy it is to use.
"So at this point you're saying you have a very high degree of confidence it's all working as it's supposed to?" board member Craig Klopfleisch asked.
"I would agree with that statement," Sneddon replied.
Sneddon also pointed out that the county Emergency Management Agency has created official identification badges for all poll workers to wear on Election Day at their polling locations and the county courthouse.
