The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. We are a peoples’ organization that has fought since 1920 to improve our government and engage all Americans in the decisions that impact their lives. We never endorse or oppose political parties or candidates, but we are political, particularly when it comes to the rule of law, fair elections, and election security.
That is why we were so impressed when Kathy Meyer, director of the Allen County Board of Elections, spoke to our Lima league about all of the measures taken to ensure that votes are fairly cast and accurately counted. These include federal and bipartisan state experts testing, examining and certifying all voting equipment as secure, and voting machines and tabulators going through a full battery of logic and accuracy testing by a bipartisan team to ensure they work properly and have not been manipulated. Ballots and machines are all locked with tamper-proof seals and stored behind double-locked doors that may only be accessed when unlocked by both Republican and Democratic election officials.
During the election, Ohio’s voting machines and tabulators are never connected to the internet, and each of Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections has two Republican members and two Democrat members. Any handling of ballots or voting equipment must take place by a bipartisan team of election officials, and throughout the election, boards reconcile voter lists, ensuring no votes were counted twice. All Election Day precincts are staffed by a bipartisan group of poll workers and open to the media and poll observers. Regardless of how you vote, every Ohio ballot is recorded on paper. After the election, every county conducts a post-election audit. All audits are open to the public.
Listening to Kathy describe the election certification process reaffirmed our belief that Allen County Board of Elections employees take their duties seriously, fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to them and deserve the utmost respect for their commitment to fair and secure elections. In addition to that, the board provides a wealth of information about candidates and issues, when and how you can vote and how you can track your ballot. We also learned from Kathy how poll workers are often in short supply and greatly appreciated. The Allen County Board of Elections website includes information about how to sign up to be a precinct election official.
The League of Women Voters of the Lima Area provides an eagerly anticipated Voter Information Guide with questions selected by our local league and submitted to local candidates, as well as questions selected by the League of Women Voters of Ohio and submitted to statewide candidates. Candidates are asked to respond to the questions online, and the answers are printed as submitted with no editing. The questions cover topics of interest including healthcare, fair and secure elections, protecting the rights of women and efforts to protect our water, air, land and climate.
Once our paper guide is published, we distribute it (free) to various places in the Lima area and surrounding communities. It is also available on our website at https://lwvlima.org/ along with links to Vote 411, an interactive website with statewide voter information where you can enter your address and view your ballot including issues and candidates as well as access other voter resources.
In 2020, for our 100th anniversary, we planned a celebration of suffrage and its history. It was unfortunately cut short by COVID. That didn’t stop our work, however, as we continue to encourage informed and active participation in government, work to increase understanding of major policy issues, and influence public policy through education and advocacy. That includes supporting our board of elections and all they do to ensure fair and secure elections for democracy.
Holly Norton, of Lima, is president of the League of Women Voters of the Lima Area. Her column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lima News editorial board or AIM Media, owner of The Lima News.
