Record numbers voting early in Lorain County; new options today

SHEFFIELD TWP. — In-person voter numbers are the highest in Lorain County history, Lorain County Elections Director Paul Adams said Tuesday, with more than 6,000 having cast their votes at the board's offices on North Ridge Road. The number of voters passing through the board offices is breaking records every single day, he said following Tuesday's board meeting. Members of the Lorain County Board of Election also voted at their meeting Tuesday to allow drive-thru ballot drop-offs at a tent in the board office parking lot. As of 4 p.m. Monday, 6,267 voters had cast ballots there. Adams said 2,865 Democrats, 1,258 Republicans, one Libertarian and one member of the Green Party voted this way between Oct. 6 and Monday. The remaining 2,142 voters were unaffiliated with any party, he said. That's between 1,300 and 1,400 voters casting ballots each day in person, he said. And more people voted early and in person on Monday than on any other day in Lorain County history, Adams said. That's also after the board had to cut the number of voting machines inside the board offices by one-third due to COVID-19 pandemic precautions so that voters and staff could properly observe social distancing guidelines. As of 4 p.m. Monday, the board had received 63,241 mail-in absentee ballot requests: 21,914 from Democrats, 8,290 from Republicans, 41 from Libertarians, and seven from Green Party members. The remaining 32,989 ballot requests were from voters unaffiliated with any of those four political parties, Adams said. To keep up with the brisk pace of early voting, reduce both the amount of waiting in line or the chance that the outdoor ballot box might fill up, starting today Lorain County voters will have a drive-thru option to drop off their completed absentee ballots at the Lorain County Board of Elections offices on North Ridge Road. An Ohio secretary of state directive issued this year allows for such drop-off points in addition to the ballot box that was installed earlier this year on the side of the building, Adams said. To ensure fairness, at least one Democrat and one Republican staff member must be present inside a tent in the parking lot to handle the drive-thru drop-offs. Additional signage being prepared by Lake Screen Printing and the Lorain County Engineer's Office will help guide drivers to the correct area of the parking lot to drop off their ballots, Adams said. The traffic pattern for the parking lot has been altered, with the first parking lot entrance off Clinton Avenue dedicated "exit only" and the second "enter only." A board employee will be stationed at the entrance to direct voters either to park so they can wait in line to vote in person or to the drive-thru ballot drop-off tent, Adams said. Heavy steel boxes will be in place to keep the sealed ballots secure until they can be taken inside to be counted, he said. And two board employees, one Democrat and one Republican, also will be consistently cleaning out the ballot drop-off box outside even when the board offices are not open for business. Emptying that box "should be a regular thing" and involve at least one representative of each of the two major political parties, so there are no voting irregularities and also so that the box doesn't get so full that voters can't insert their ballots or can extract other voters' ballots, board member Anthony Giardini said. Voters also are allowed to bring family members' completed ballots with them for presentation at the drive-thru ballot drop-off or to insert into the drop-off box. The board also voted to keep the number of voting machines deployed countywide on Election Day at 837. State law requires at least one machine or unit per 175 registered voters, but the large number of early voters meant the number of machines could have been reduced by more than 200, Adams said. It's better "to err on the side of having more than not having enough," board member Jack Baird said. Adams earlier said there is a mechanism in place to protect against votes being cast in Ohio by former residents who have moved out of state. Voter list accuracy is protected by the Unified Voter Registration System, a database used by many — but not all — states to compare voter addresses and avoid duplicates. Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office uses the database to make sure votes are only cast once, Adams said previously. Adams and board members said they were getting multiple compliments from voters by email on the ease of voting under the new guidelines and restrictions demanded by the coronavirus pandemic. "In Ohio, we're good" at guarding the vote and the process, Baird said Tuesday. "I want people to feel secure that in Lorain County, (if) you cast your ballot, you're fine."HOW TO VOTE EARLY There are varying hours for early voting prior to Election Day: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Oct. 19. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 19-23. 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 26-30. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 24 and 31, which are both Saturdays. 1-5 p.m. Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, which are both Sundays. The board offices also will be open for early, in-person absentee voting on Nov. 2, the day before the election, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Polls are then open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3. For more information, visit the Board of Elections website at www.voteloraincountyohio.gov or call (440) 326-5900. Lorain County Newspapers Editor Jason Hawk contributed to this story. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.