By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
All across Ohio, boards of elections are working on the logistics of holding a special election on Aug. 8 – after being informed earlier this year there would no longer be state elections in August.
With the last minute wrinkles in the ballot wording being ironed out, early voting began Tuesday at local boards of elections.
Wood County Board of Elections Deputy Director Julie Baumgardner acknowledged the state legislature’s decision to no longer put issues on August ballots had come as welcome news to the local elections office.
“It was a relief and a big savings for the office,” Baumgartner said Tuesday afternoon.
But when Republican legislators reversed their ruling and put Issue 1 on the August ballot, it left election boards scrambling to prepare for the vote. Baumgardner said the Wood County office has enough poll workers to get by.
“It’s not a critical need,” she said, encouraging anyone still interested to reach out to the elections office. “If we can’t use them in August, we can use them in November.”
Advocates have been debating both sides of Issue 1, which would require 60% of Ohio voters to pass a voter-initiated amendment – rather than the current 50% plus one now required. The change would make it nearly impossible for any voter initiative to pass.
If passed, the 60% threshold will have a far-reaching effect on any attempts that Ohio voters make to initiate statewide issues for years to come.
Ironically, the insistence that Issue 1 appears in the August special election, means the matter will be decided by a low number of voters.
August special elections in Ohio see an average voter turnout of 7%, Baumgardner said. So that means as little as 3.6% of Ohio voters could determine the fate of the constitutional amendment on the Aug. 8 ballot.
With strong voices on both sides of Issue 1, Baumgardner predicted that Wood County may see more voters than customary in the August election.
“We feel that we’re going to have a bigger turnout,” she said. “We feel the turnout will be greater because changing the Constitution is something the voters always watch closely.”
The projected voter turnout and funding of the election have both been criticized. Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman proposed underfunding the August election by allocating $15 million for it in the state budget, compared to the $20 million spent in the August 2022 election. This is expected to stretch county boards of election resources.
“We don’t feel we are fully funded because we have to hire people,” that weren’t planned for before, Baumgardner said. The law requires full funding of state elections.
“The secretary of state will have to go back to the legislature and get more money,” she said.
Wood County Board of Elections will have to hire additional people to get through the August election and handle the lead up to the November election, Baumgardner said. Four people have been hired for the early vote center, and one or two more will be needed to review petitions.
Two voter-initiated issues are being petitioned to appear on November ballots. One is supporting reproductive rights in Ohio, the other to legalize adult use of recreational marijuana in the state. While the petitions are initially turned into the Secretary of State’s Office, they are then sent to the local boards of elections for signatures to be verified.
“We check them locally, and turn them back to the Secretary of State,” Baumgardner said.
If enough signatures are submitted and verified, the reproductive rights and cannabis issues will appear on the November ballot.
But many voters are still confused about the unexpected August election, Baumgardner said.
“We’re stressing to everybody it’s only the one issue on the ballot,” she said.
Early voting will continue until Aug. 6, and any registered voter in Wood County has until Aug. 1 to request an absentee ballot.
