LIMA — While much of the national political discourse of late has been centered around the two major party candidates in this year’s presidential election, county boards of elections are continuing to work to ensure that the process used in choosing the next president is conducted smoothly.
That was the message from the director and assistant director of the Allen County Board of Elections to the Lima Rotary Club on Monday at Veterans Memorial Civic Center. Board Director Kathy Meyer said that one of the central points to that message is to assure voters that this election, like every election, will be conducted fairly with equal representation from both major political parties.
“We’re just getting the word out, especially about the” equal number of Democrats and Republicans on the board, she said. “We wanted to let them know about the process and what’s all on the ballot, since a lot of times, people can forget about what is all on that ballot.”
In guiding Rotarians through the Board of Elections’ website, Meyer and assistant director Mark Vernik were able to show sample ballots featuring a number of elected positions, including U.S. senator and appeals court judge and a number of local and county positions.
“Local candidates are the ones who affect us the most,” Meyer said. “My husband was a township trustee in Fulton County, and I remember how he had to take calls in the middle of the night to get trees off the road.”
Meyer and Vernik said there are between 5,000 and 7,000 absentee ballot requests that have been received by the board, and with each one having to be entered manually, it may take some time for every name to show up as being registered to vote absentee.
“I think that by the end of this week, we’ll be caught up,” Meyer said.
The deadline to register to vote in Ohio is Oct. 11. For information on voting in Allen County, go to http://allencountyohio.com/boe.
