By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Wood County Board of Elections certified 1,611 provisional ballots and rejected 271 “fatally flawed” provisional ballots this morning for the general election.
The official local vote tally for the Nov. 3 election, with the provisional ballots included, will be announced Wednesday morning.
Provisional ballots are used to record a vote if a voter’s eligibility is in question and the voter would otherwise not be permitted to vote at his or her polling place. The content of a provisional ballot is no different from a regular ballot, but it is cast “provisionally” until election officials can verify the voter’s eligibility to vote in the particular precinct at that election.
There are several scenarios in which a voter may cast a provisional ballot, including if they moved in the last 30 days or failed to update their address by the board of elections deadline, said Carol DeJong, of the Wood County Board of Elections. It allows people with name changes to vote without previously registering their new name. Prior to accepting these votes, the board must confirm that the person did not vote elsewhere, DeJong said.
Following are the “fatal flaws” that caused 271 ballots to be rejected by the board this morning:
- 211 voters were not registered in Ohio.
- 12 voters were registered in Ohio, but voted in the wrong precinct and wrong polling location.
- 3 voters did not provide the required identification information.
- 2 voters did not sign the provisional envelope.
- 31 did not provide a Wood County address.
- 6 people had already voted.
- 5 voters failed to state their birthdates.
- 1 envelope had no ballot.
Terry Burton, of the Wood County Board of Elections, said the number of provisional ballot voters who had already voted elsewhere was much lower than expected.
“We were concerned that would be a large one, but it was not,” he said.
The election board took other action this morning, including agreeing to pay small stipends to high school students who helped with election equipment preparations on the Saturday before the general election.
The board talked about the success of the early voting in the courthouse atrium.
“We got nothing but positive reviews for that,” Burton said.
The sizable portion of early voters may become standard, he said.
“I’m not sure it ever totally goes back,” Burton said. “This may be the norm for people going forward.”
The August special election gave the board some valuable planning for the general election, DeJong said.
On Nov. 3, aside from some lines when the polls first opened, there were no significant voting lines throughout the day, board of elections member Mike Zickar said.
“This was a pretty flawless election, given all the chaos,” Zickar said. “It helped that it was a beautiful day.”
The board asked that letters of thanks be sent to all polling locations throughout the county. They especially wanted to thank new polling locations that came forward during a pinch.
“This was a big ask for some of them,” Burton said.
The board of elections will meet again on Wednesday, at 8:30 a.m., to certify the results of the Nov. 3 general election. That meeting will be held in Courtroom 4 of the Wood County Office Building in Bowling Green.
