Change in voting laws to affect May 2 Lorain County primary

SHEFFIELD TWP — A number of changes in state law earlier this year will affect voters in the coming May 2 primary election. They include new rules mostly affecting photo ID used by prospective voters, but also new or reduced voting hours. Voters also will see some new technology, with new electronic poll books in use by poll workers this year. In an interview Thursday, Lorain County Board of Elections Director Paul Adams said his staff is doing a social media and print advertising campaign to inform prospective voters of the changes in election law. The deadline to register to vote in the May 2 primary election is 9 p.m. Monday, April 3. In-person absentee voting begins at 8 a.m. Tuesday. ID changes Changes in state elections law taking effect prior to the May 2 primary mostly have to do with what ID voters will be required to show to vote absentee or show at the polls on Election Day. The only acceptable forms of identification for absentee voting by mail are an Ohio driver's license or state ID number, the last four digits of a person's Social Security number, or a front-and-back copy of a voter's ID. The state ID card will be provided to anyone who wants it, free of charge, at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles starting April 7, Adams said. Copies of current utility bills, bank statements, government checks, paychecks or any other government document showing a voter's name and address are not acceptable as forms of ID. For in-person early voting, which begins at 8 a.m. Tuesday, a valid driver's license; state ID card or interim ID form issued by the BMV; U.S. passport book or passport card; or U.S. military ID card, Ohio National Guard ID card or U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs ID card is required. Early voting Early voting now ends at 5 p.m. April 30, after HB 458 eliminated the six hours of voting previously assigned to the Monday before Election Day. Those hours were reallocated to early voting hours the weekend and week before, Adams said. Absolutely no in-person early voting will occur May 1. The full voting schedule can be found on the Board of Elections website. The deadline to submit an absentee ballot application is 8:30 p.m. April 25. Absentee ballots may only be requested on the Ohio Secretary of State's website, www.ohiosos.gov; on the Lorain County Board of Elections website at www.voteloraincountyohio.gov; or at the Board of Elections offices at 1985 North Ridge Road, Sheffield Township. Absentee ballots returned to the board of elections in person must be delivered by 7:30 p.m. May 2. Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked no later than Monday, May 1, and be received within four days of the election. The nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Ohio website also has a plain language guide to all the recent changes in Ohio voting laws, which can be found on its website at www.lwvohio.org/ohiovotingchanges. Election Day On Election Day, HB 458 now requires that voters provide valid photo identification such as an Ohio driver's license, state ID, U.S. passport or passport card, U.S. military ID, Ohio National Guard or Veterans Affairs ID card. Voters who forget their ID when they go to the polls will have until noon on May 6 to bring their ID to the Board of Elections and "cure" their ballot. HB 458 reduced the number of days to do so from seven to four, Adams said. All precincts in Lorain County will be open for ballot questions and issues in the May 2 primary, according to the elections board. There is only one countywide issue, that being Issue 6 — a five-year, 1.6875-mill renewal for the Lorain County Board of Developmental Disabilities/Murray Ridge Center. Only some communities will have contested Republican or Democratic primaries. Because of the Elyria Municipal Court clerk's race between Gregory Fanning and Mike Musto, Republican primary ballots will appear in all Elyria city wards, Elyria Township, North Ridgeville, the villages of Grafton and LaGrange, and Carlisle, Eaton, Columbia, LaGrange and Grafton townships. Both Republican and Democratic primaries will be held in Lorain, Sheffield, Avon, Avon Lake, and Elyria's Ward 5. A Democratic primary only will be held in Amherst city Ward 2. Voters whose polling places have changed due to the redrawing of city wards or other voting districts should have been notified by mail of changes in their polling locations. Voter registration status, polling locations, and sample ballots can be found on the Lorain County Board of Elections website, www.voteloraincountyohio.gov. Poll workers will tell voters who go to the wrong polling place to vote where they should go to properly cast a vote, Adams said. No voting will be allowed at the Board of Election offices on Election Day. A map of contested primaries also can be found on the board of elections website. Poll workers needed The board of elections also is still in need of poll workers for May 2. Earlier this month it reduced to 754 the number it anticipated will be needed for an anticipated low turnout in the primary. To become a poll worker, call the board of elections at (440) 326-5900. Classes are two hours long, half online and half in-person followed by an open-book assessment test. All prospective poll workers will be paid for attending class, and can earn up to $200 for working on Election Day. Workers who aren't needed on Election Day but will remain on a stand-by list will still be paid for attending poll worker training classes, Adams said. HB 458 background Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 458 in January, which changed Ohio election laws — primarily, its supporters claimed, to create stricter voting rules surrounding the use of photo ID by prospective voters. Critics of the bill have accused Ohio's GOP legislators and state officials of restricting voter access to the polls. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, put out a statement in January that most voters and Americans support stricter photo ID rules at the polls despite Ohio's elections being widely regarded as fraud-free by the secretary of state himself. In December, LaRose's office reported that Ohio's election boards had a 99.9 percent accuracy rate in voting results. He has also publicly stated that it is "easy to vote and hard to cheat" in Ohio elections. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaveOBrienCT.