'We've been swamped': Heavy voting across Lorain County

Peering through the glass doors, voters were lined up at 6 a.m. Tuesday outside Lorain County Community College in Elyria, waiting to be let in. Teresa Kowalski, assistant elections manager for the polling site, said she wasn't allowed to open the doors until Election Day officially started 30 minutes later. Once voting began, the pace was heavy and stayed that way. "We've been swamped," Kowalski said around noon. Arthur Summers was among those eager to vote at the college. He said his top priority was weighing in on the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican JD Vance. Though women's health — specifically, the right to have an abortion — wasn't explicitly on the ballot, Summers said it was the big issue on his mind when choosing which candidate to back. "Vance's way of thinking is just too out there for me," he said. Carol LaPlac, who voted at Pioneer Ridge Community Center in North Ridgeville, said she turned out to vote against the city's proposed 0.2 percent income tax increase. While she said she wasn't opposed to property tax levies such as LCCC's 2.1-mill renewal, LaPlac said the city income tax "kind of horrified" her. She also had mixed feelings about candidates: "I kind of split my ticket, really. Some Republicans I like, and some Democrats I like," she said. Voters at Pioneer Ridge found quite the wait Tuesday. "It's been crazy," said Jill Powers, the assistant polling location manager. A lengthy ballot, which included a proposed school construction levy and several charter amendments, slowed voters' pace, she said. With waits of more than an hour at Pioneer Ridge and Ridgefield Recreation Center, Lorain County Board of Elections Director Paul Adams ordered more voting machines set up there and dispatched additional staff. Even in townships and villages such as South Amherst and Wellington, where there were fewer ballot issues, Adams said voters still ventured out in droves. Nowhere in Lorain County could be considered "slow" on Tuesday, he said. The Lorain County Metro Parks' Amherst Healthplex was probably the busiest spot in the county, Adams said — like LCCC, it had voters ready to go well before opening time. Dennis Sommers voted at the Healthplex in the early afternoon, when a line no longer extended outside the building. Though he wanted to do his part, Sommers' view of the election was dark. "Candidates are a joke. They're corrupt on both sides. You have to try to pick the best one," he said. No Election Day security issues emerged, Adams said. There were, however, limited issues with about a dozen voting machines across the county. Dust inside their optical readers caused the machines to jam, and technicians were sent out to get them back up and running. Adams said he was in contact with the voting machine vendor in an effort to prevent those issues from happening again. With some surprise, he also noted a large number of people voting by provisional ballot at the Board of Elections office — an option available under Ohio law. The "very, very steady flow" there was on par with what is seen during a presidential election, Adams said. Final turnout numbers were not available at press time. Adams said he believed more than 55 percent of the county's 219,389 registered voters had taken part, based on reports from polling locations throughout the day. The brisk Election Day came after record early voting. Adams said 16,693 people cast ballots in person at the Lorain County Board of Elections office in Sheffield Township in past few weeks. Up to 30,000 absentee ballots were also expected to be in play, he said. About 80 percent of those had already been received as of this weekend but could not be opened until the polls closed. Election night numbers are never final. By state law, ballots must be certified by the county board before they are considered official — and there is always the possibility of races that are so close they trigger recounts. Nor had all ballots been received by the time polls closed Tuesday. Absentee ballots postmarked by Monday's deadline have until Nov. 17 to arrive if they are to be counted. Those lacking signatures or showing other problems have seven days to be fixed. Jason Hawk can be reached at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.