Absentee voting Q&A with Lorain County's top elections official, Paul Adams

This article has been updated to show that family members can drop off each others' absentee ballots at the Lorain County Board of Elections. SHEFFIELD TWP. — Absentee voting is about to kick off in Ohio, but there is a great deal of misinformation swirling around out there, breeding confusion about how it works and whether it's safe. Paul Adams, director of the Lorain County Board of Elections, went on the record Friday afternoon to answer common questions about the fall election. What is better: voting in person or voting absentee? "I would say it comes down to voter preference. We're making accommodations available for both, and for mail we're increasing our capacity so that we can make it as easy a process as possible." If you're going to vote in person, Adams said you're most likely going to stand in line due to social distancing and limits on how many people are allowed inside polling locations at a given time. Is voting absentee the same as voting by mail? "In the state of Ohio, the only type of voting via the mail is called absentee." Ohio will not mail you a ballot unless you request one, Adams said. Boards of elections will not automatically send them out. Is absentee voting new because of the pandemic? "No. The rules that a voter is going to follow for absentee voting via the mail are the same rules that have been in place since 2006." Does absentee voting have a history of problems in past elections? "I have not seen there to be major problems with absentee voting in the state of Ohio or here in Lorain County." When an absentee request form or ballot is received, it's reviewed, and any irregularity will spark an investigation, Adams said. Do I have to vote absentee like in the spring? "In this case, no. You have three options: You can vote via mail, you can vote in-person absentee, and you can vote at the polling locations on Election Day." Who is eligible to vote absentee? All registered voters in Ohio can request to vote absentee if they wish. How many people have requested absentee ballots for the 2020 general election in Lorain County? As of the close of business Thursday, 57,401. If I applied for an absentee ballot, can I change my mind and vote in person? There are two scenarios: • You can vote in person early at the Board of Elections office at 1985 North Ridge Road East in Sheffield Township. You must take your absentee ballot to be voided, complete some paperwork and then, yes, you can vote in person. If you don't have your absentee ballot, you'll have to vote provisionally. • On Election Day, you cannot change your mind, though you can choose to vote provisionally. If you don't cast the other ballot, your in-person vote will be counted — but it won't be a regular vote. Is voting absentee safe? "Yes. Absentee voting in Lorain County is safe. We have a dedicated group of bipartisan teams — Democrats and Republicans in our absentee department — that review all the absentee requests that come in, as well as all the absentee ballots." What are some common myths that should be cleared up? "I've had some people contact our office and say, 'We've received multiple absentee ballot request forms. If I send in multiple (forms) the Board of Elections is going to send me multiple ballots.' That's not going to happen." Ballot requests are tracked and you cannot be given a second ballot, Adams said. "Every election, there are some people out there who think absentee ballots are only counted if the election is close. … That's absolutely wrong. Absentee ballots are counted, and they're among the first ballots counted on Election Night." Will there be election fraud cases this year? "I certainly hope not. Like I said, we're going to be reviewing all of the requests and ballots that come in. And if there is a case that needs to be brought to our board and referred to the prosecutor's office, just like we've done in previous elections, we will do that." In 2012 and 2016, there were a very small number of cases forwarded to the prosecutor's office for possible legal action, he said. What's to stop someone from applying for an absentee ballot and voting in the name of a deceased person? "For deceased voters, we receive a report from the Ohio Department of Health on a monthly basis. We have staff that are required to review those reports and purge from the rolls anybody who is reported to us (as deceased). We cannot issue a ballot to someone who is marked deceased in our records." What's to stop someone from applying for an absentee ballot and voting in my name? "In that case, on the absentee ballot request form, as well as the identification envelope that you send us, we are going to be looking to make sure your birth date's correct, whatever formal identification you've provided is correct. If it's not, that's going to stop the process immediately. Also, we are going to be checking your signature to verify it matches what our previous signatures for you on file have been. And if there is a discrepancy, we will further investigate that." If my signature doesn't match, do I get a phone call? "If you've given us a phone number or email address, we're going to reach out to you. … If we cannot get in touch with you that way, we're going to mail you a letter. Unfortunately, a lot of the cases with signatures that don't match, there are perfectly legitimate medical reasons, or an individual has had some kind of recent medical episode." Imaging software isn't used in Lorain County to compare signatures, Adams said. The work is all done by human eye. If I vote absentee, will it increase the chances my ballot will be thrown out because of a technicality or a legal challenge? "Generally, the answer to that is no. However, I will say that this election, just like we saw in the last primary election, there are going to be a lot of first-time mail absentee voters. And as I had mentioned, those items such as the identification and the signature are things that we look at. If a voter forgets to complete those, we're going to do everything we can to get in touch with the voter to correct them. But if we cannot correct the deficiencies on the identification envelope or on the request, then yes, we will have individuals who will not have their ballots counted." If you're voting absentee by mail for the first time, make sure you carefully read the directions, Adams said. What if I accidentally applied for an absentee ballot twice? Am I in trouble? "As long as it's not something that is being done purposefully. Your additional request is going to be placed in a duplicate file and it's not going to be processed." Can I verify that my absentee ballot was sent to me, or received back? Yes. Visit www.voteloraincountyohio.gov and click the "Absentee Ballot Status" button to see whether your request form has been received, when your ballot has been mailed out and when your completed ballot has been received back. Do I have to pay postage to vote? Absentee voters will receive, along with their ballots, instructions about how much postage is due. That amount may vary depending on where you live, because its size and weight differ based on how many issues and candidates it holds. "Some parts of the county are going to be a one-page ballot and some parts of the county are going to be a two-page ballot. If a voter does not want to mail them back, which we've had a lot of individuals tell us already, you can drop it off at our drop box and you don't have to worry about the postage." If I have to pay postage, isn't that a poll tax? "That's an argument I think could have been made to our legislators, and certainly I agree with the secretary of state, who was pushing to have postage paid on the return. I think in light of the current pandemic, it only makes logical sense to do it, and certainly there were Democrats and Republicans who believed it, but unfortunately there was not enough will in the Legislature to make it happen." If we can vote by mail, why can't we vote online? "Ever since I became an election official in 2003, that is something that has been talked about, and various interest groups as well as the federal government and the state government have looked into making that happen. The problem that they run into every time they come close to coming up with a system is cybersecurity. They just cannot create a system at this point that any federal or state certification is going to be comfortable with." Even though he would like to see it as an option, Adams said he does not think it will be one for years to come. How do you work with the Postal Service to make sure ballots aren't lost or thrown away by partisan employees? "Over the last couple of years, the post office here in Cleveland has an election mail coordinator that reaches out to us before every election and at multiple points during each election … to make sure boards of elections are on the same page with the post office." Envelopes have been updated to make it clear what is and is not an absentee ballot, Adams said. Those going out have a blue bar on the left-hand side, those returning will have a red bar. He said there are no marks on the outside of the ballot showing what political party the voter has selected, and no one will be able to look inside and pitch ballots they don't want to count. Is there security at the post office to prevent election tampering? Yes, there is security at the post office and at the ballot vendor's facilities. "We will have board of elections staff members who will do security reviews of our ballot vendor as well as the post office." If I don't trust the mail, what can I do? "If you don't trust the mail at all, I would encourage you to consider coming here early to vote at the Board of Elections in person or go to your polling location." If you don't want to vote in person, request your absentee ballot as soon as possible and use the secure drop box provided at the Board of Elections office, Adams said. How many drop boxes are there in Lorain County? "We currently have one, and that is because a secretary of state directive permits us to only have one. There is an ongoing lawsuit — we'll see where that goes — but right now we're only allowed one, and it's right here at the Board of Elections office." What's the deadline to vote absentee? In-person absentee voting runs from Tuesday, Oct. 6, to 2 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, at the Board of Elections office in Sheffield Township. The drop box can be used until the polls close at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. Only you can drop off your ballot. Delivering batches of ballots for friends, classmates and others is called "ballot harvesting" and is illegal. Family members are the exception, said Adams. Absentee ballots returned by mail must be postmarked no later than Monday, Nov. 2. Adams said that during the final week before Election Day, you should have mail workers "hand-cancel" or postmark your ballot envelope in front of you to ensure it will be counted. Why do I keep hearing that I should mail it by Oct. 27? "That gives your ballot an entire week to get back to us. I'm OK with the 27th — the sooner the better, however. Certainly if you get it Oct. 6, send it back to us as soon as you possibly can." It's not my fault if the mail is slow. Isn't the Board of Elections required to count all ballots cast before or on Nov. 3? "I understand that. The issue is we have to follow what the laws are. And the laws and the rules concerning mail absentee ballots require that if they don't fall within those time frames, we are not allowed to accept them." Can my spouse, son or daughter or caretaker apply for an absentee ballot on my behalf? You can have somebody assist you completing the form, but you as the voter need to sign it, Adams said. Can they fill it out for me if I want them to? You can have somebody assist you, even if you go to the Board of Elections to vote in person. It's not permissible for you to completely turn over your ballot to someone else, Adams said. Why haven't I gotten my ballot yet? Ohio law does not allow boards of elections to mail out ballots until Oct. 6, which is also the date in-person absentee voting starts. If I don't want to vote absentee, will I have to wear a mask to vote in person? Yes, the state will require masks at the polls this fall. "If an individual comes in (and) does not have one, we are instructed to offer them one. We will have supplies of masks at the polling locations. If an individual still does not want to wear a mask, we are then required to encourage them to vote curbside, where we can send poll workers out to their car and assist them." Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.