LIMA
If this year’s election season wasn’t peculiar enough, the coronavirus has thrown a few additional wrinkles into the process.
While the polls will be open Nov. 3 for voters to cast ballots in the traditional way, more than ever this year election boards are bracing for record numbers of absentee and mail-in ballots.
And with that reliance on vote-by-mail balloting comes a skepticism on the part of many people that their votes will not be counted. That sentiment starts at the top.
Trump has attempted to sow seeds of doubt about the validity and accuracy of mail-in balloting while on the campaign trail. As recently as last weekend in Nevada, Trump accused that state’s governor and Democrats of using mail-in voting to “rig” the upcoming November election.
On multiple occasions at recent rallies, the president has slammed voting by mail, claiming that the practice opens up the elections to widespread voter fraud. However, there is no substantial evidence to suggest that mail-in voting leads to voter fraud.
He also seemed to suggest that voters in North Carolina should attempt to vote twice — a felony offense — to test the system.
Wearing the dual hats as the chairman of the Allen County Republican Party and also as a member of the county board of elections, Keith Cheney said a little context is very much in order when discussing mail-in voting.
He said the system used in Ohio is “very different” from remote balloting being advocated “in other states and by the Democratic Party.” In some states ballots are being mailed, unsolicited, to every registered voter, a practice Cheney called “ballot harvesting.”
“What the president is saying is accurate in states where they just mail out ballots to everybody,” he said.
Dr. Rob Alexander, professor of political science at Ohio Northern University and the director of ONU’s Institute for Civics and Public Policy, said mail-in voting seems to worry some voters.
“People are really struggling with mail-in voting,” Alexander conceded earlier this month. The professor said that while he expects a record number of ballots to be cast, he doesn’t share the view that mail-in votes will lead to massive voter fraud, as Trump has alleged.
“Most studies reveal that very little voter fraud actually takes place nationwide, much less than 1%, and that it’s often because of a simple mistake” rather than the intent to corrupt the voting process, Alexander said. “Traditionally mail-in voting has been supported by both parties, but this year it’s being politicized.”
A secure process
Applications for absentee mail-in ballots were mailed out the first week of September by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to all registered Buckeye State voters. In less than a week, the Putnam County Board of Elections had received 3,000 requests for ballot applications, according to Director Karen Lammers.
Beginning Oct. 6 the board will begin mailing actual ballots to voters who have submitted their requests. Lammers urged voters to return their ballots as quickly as possible, noting that county residents have the option of returning ballots by mail or by putting them in a secure drop-box located outside the board office at 575 Ottawa-Glandorf Road, Suite 2, Ottawa.
Located adjacent to the drop box, which Lammers said is under around-the-clock video surveillance, are absentee ballot request forms. Downloadable forms are also available from the board’s website and the Ohio Secretary of State’s online site.
Lammers said Putnam County officials are bracing for a large voter turnout on Nov. 3, both at the county’s 12 polling locations and by mail.
“We always are at 80% (voter turnout) in presidential elections,” the director said.
She also voiced confidence that all votes will be counted accurately.
“They (state officials) are pushing for mail-in voting for the health of everybody concerned,” Lammers said. “I know our system is fair and accurate, and I trust our process.”
Her counterpart in Allen County is equally confident that all votes will be counted and none will be counted twice.
“It hasn’t happened yet, as far as I’m aware, and Ohio has been doing this (absentee mail-in voting) for a long time,” said Kathy Meyer, director of the Allen County election office.
“When we get a request for a ballot, we look at each address, birth date, identification and signature,” Meyer said. “Then when their ballots are returned, we do the same thing.”
Less than two weeks after ballot request forms were mailed to more than 7 million registered Ohio voters, Meyer said more than 8,000 requests have been submitted to her office.
“I kind of expected that, but I wasn’t sure,” the veteran election official said. “I knew it would be more (requests for absentee ballots) than usual.”
Ballot requests should be mailed to boards of election no later than Oct. 27 to ensure delivery by noon on Oct. 31, the legal deadline to request an absentee ballot.
Meyer said all 36 voting locations in Allen County will be open on Nov. 3, although one polling site – Sherwood Community – has been relocated to the UNOH Racer’s Station.
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