By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
This year’s primary election in Ohio will be unlike any before. There will be no lines at the polls – because there will be no polls.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary election has been extended through April 28 and citizens will vote through mail-in absentee ballots. If those ballots arrive at the office after 7:30 p.m. on April 28 and by May 8, they must officially postmarked April 27 or earlier.
“Obviously, the times and circumstances of this are unlike anything else,” said Terry Burton, of the Wood County Board of Elections.
‘This will be a bit of a challenge,” Burton said Thursday morning of the absentee ballots. “This is going to require a volume that we haven’t had to deal with.”
On Wednesday, the Ohio legislature approved a process that will prolong the voting since the March 17 primary was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ohioans who already cast primary ballots are good to go and will have their votes counted. Those who did not vote early will now have the next month to cast absentee ballots through mail.
In Wood County, 5,129 citizens have already voted – either in person at the board of elections office or by absentee ballots, Burton said.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose will be sending a postcard to all Ohioans informing them of this new voting process and how they can cast ballots.
Here’s how it will work:
- Ohioans will have to request an absentee ballot from their respective county board of elections office.
- The request form is available online. Voters can print and fill it out, then send it to their elections office. Or they can request the application form be mailed to them to be mailed back.
- Once Ohioans are approved as absentee voters, they will receive their blank ballots in the mail.
- The filled-out ballot can be mailed back or dropped off to their board of elections office. It must be dropped off by April 28 to count. If those ballots arrive at the office after 7:30 p.m. on April 28 and by May 8, they must officially postmarked April 27 or earlier.
“If you want to participate, get an application as soon as possible,” Burton said.
Burton asked that voters seeking absentee ballots read the postcards and instructions on how to request the ballots – rather than calling the board of elections office.
“If 70,000 voters call my office, we will never get there,” he said.
Many older citizens already cast their votes by mailing in absentee ballots, Burton said. Those not comfortable requesting a ballot online, may have to rely on people in their lives who are more tech-savvy, he said.
The board of elections is working with a skeleton staff now, but will return to full staffing for the primary election, Burton said.
“It’s not a perfect situation,” Burton said. “We’re trying to prepare. We’re all trying to find that new normal.”
LaRose, along with Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, had sought an in-person election date on June 2 with absentee voting through that time period. At first, LaRose announced this as the primary voting date and issued a directive to county boards of elections to abide by the new date and plan.
After it was made clear the Ohio General Assembly had the authority to set election dates, not him, LaRose then lobbied for a bill that would’ve approved his ideas. In a letter to legislators, LaRose said the April 28 timeline would not give his office enough time to carry out an extended absentee voting system.
But Sen. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said Wednesday that many communities and school districts have local levies on the ballot and cannot afford to wait until June to learn the results.
The bill, passed unanimously in both chambers, did allocate funding for the costs to mail postcards and pre-paid ballot postage.
