By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
On Sunday, the line for early voting stretched outside the Wood County Courthouse atrium and onto the sidewalk. Voters waited up to an hour to cast their ballots.
Like the rest of the nation, local voters are motivated to cast their ballots early and avoid busy polling places on Nov. 3.
Less than three weeks into early voting, and more than a third of the regular turnout for presidential elections in Wood County has already voted.
Here are the numbers as of Monday morning:
- 26,480 ballots have been cast.
- 11,213 were completed in the early voting area in the courthouse atrium.
- 22,005 absentee ballots have been requested.
- 15,267 of those ballots have been returned either by mail or to the drop box outside the county courthouse.
Wood County currently has 93,230 registered voters. In the last presidential election, 64,826 people voted in the county – just under 70% of the eligible voters.
Terry Burton, director of the Wood County Board of Elections, is glad local residents are taking advantage of the opportunity to vote early.
“This will take some pressure off at the polls” on Nov. 3, he said. “In the end, I think it’s going to be a good situation.”
The county board of elections prepared for the heavy early turnout this year by setting up 13 voting machines in the atrium area of the county courthouse complex and by installing a larger drop box outside for completed ballots.
There are also two more voting machines in the board of elections office for people who requested absentee ballots, but then decided they want to vote early in person.
“I don’t know that we’ve had any complaints about the layout or pushback about the wait time,” Burton said.
In addition to reducing the pressure on election day, the early voting process is also allowing poll workers to get used to the voting process during the coronavirus pandemic. Workers are getting comfortable using personal protective equipment, dealing with voters through plexiglass, and frequent sanitizing of equipment.
The remaining early voting hours in the courthouse atrium are:
- Oct. 26 – 30, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 1, from 1 – 5 p.m.
- Monday, Nov. 2, from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Absentee ballot voters may drop off completed ballots in the 24-hour secure dropbox located at the main entrance of the Wood County Courthouse off Summit Street. The box is marked with “Board of Elections” and is just to the right of the doors into the atrium.
The board of elections is ready for Nov. 3, Burton said.
“I believe so. That’s our whole focus right now,” he said.
The office has plenty of supplies to stock polling places with personal protective equipment and sanitizers.
“Things we’ve never had to deal with before,” Burton said.
The board of elections has enough poll workers, but is continuing to recruit substitutes just in case they are needed.
Safety measures will also be taken for the voters. Rather than just one hand stylus for signing in, there will be multiple that will be sanitized after each use. Voters will also be given a stylus to vote with if they would rather not touch the screen.
Plastic barriers will be set up at sign-in stations.
In rare cases, voting will be allowed at curbside. This will be offered only to those who become unable to come inside a polling precinct very close to election day, and did not have time to get an absentee ballot for early voting.
The Ohio Secretary of State has said that masks will not be mandated for voters. The Wood County Board of Elections will have disposable masks available that poll workers will offer to voters without face coverings.
“They should wear a mask to be respectful of the current state and county mandates and out of consideration for their neighbors,” Burton said in August.
People who decline masks will be asked to vote outside the polling places.
“If they want to vote in Ohio without consideration for their neighbors, they will be allowed to vote,” Burton said.
As for poll watchers – which have been a subject of rhetoric surrounding the presidential campaign – Ohio has an “observer” statute that allows specific people from the political parties to watch at polling places, Burton said. It is a common practice during presidential elections.
“Quite honestly, people won’t even notice them,” he said.
However, if people not officially affiliated with the parties interfere, “they will be asked to leave,” Burton said.
