Voter ID changes trouble elections board; one-third provisional ballots rejected (UPDATED)

SHEFFIELD TWP. — After rejecting nearly one-third of all provisional ballots cast in the Aug. 8 election, Lorain County Board of Elections members said Wednesday they plan to write to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose with concerns over how recent changes in state elections law are disenfranchising potential voters. The board voted Wednesday to reject 302 of the 1,074 provisional ballots cast in the special August election to decide Issue 1, a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution rejected by Ohio voters at a cost of $20 million to taxpayers. That's an approximate 72 percent acceptance rate, when provisional ballots are normally accepted at a 90 percent rate. More than half of the rejected provisional ballots, 160, were voters who failed to provide an unexpired photo ID at the polls. Of those, 121 had expired ID and 39 had no photo ID at all. They ranged in age from young to old, and were from across Lorain County, Board of Elections Director Paul Adams said. Some were older voters with no driver's licenses and others were young voters with temporary licenses. Board President Marilyn Jacobcik, a Republican, and board member Anthony Giardini, a Democrat, said they planned to write LaRose's office about it. Giardini said the issue will be a "continuing problem with the new law," House Bill 458, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in January and requiring all early and in-person Election Day voters to provide a valid photo ID such as a driver's license or passport. Other valid forms of photo ID that can presented at the polls are: A state of Ohio ID card, an interim ID form issued by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a U.S. passport or passport card, a U.S. military ID, an Ohio National Guard ID card, or a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ID card. HB 458 includes a provision allowing voters who don't have a driver's license or passport to obtain a valid Ohio state ID that can be presented as evidence of identity. It can be obtained at the BMV. The law used to allow voters to present alternate forms of ID such as bank statements, paychecks or utility bills as ID when voting. HB 458 changed that. Giardini and Jacobcik said the new law potentially disenfranchises older voters who don't have a valid driver's license because they don't drive, can't drive for medical reasons, and don't have a passport. Board member Inez James, a Democrat, suggested it amounts to "voter suppression." Giardini said the 160 people whose votes were rejected because the board followed state law were otherwise "perfectly qualified" to vote in a nonpartisan election. The only reason their votes didn't end up counting was because of the voter ID requirement, he said. "That makes me very uncomfortable. These people weren't cheating," Giardini said. "I think we all share that concern," Jacobcik said. Of the other provisional ballots that were rejected: 101 were cast by voters not registered to vote in the state of Ohio, Adams said. 23 were cast in the wrong precinct and the wrong polling location. Seven of those voters "refused" to go to their correct polling place, so their votes didn't count, Adams said. 14 voters had already cast a ballot early, showed up to the polls to vote again, were flagged by poll workers or elections software and had their provisional votes rejected by the board. Four ballots contained invalid addresses and three didn't include the voter's date of birth. Four other provisional ballots that were cast at the wrong precinct and polling location on Election Day were accepted by the board due to unforeseen circumstances. Three voters weren't comfortable voting at Sugar Ridge Baptist Church in North Ridgeville after a transformer exploded and power lines fell there on Election Day, so they went elsewhere to cast their ballots. A fourth voter was turned away by construction workers working on Lear Nagle Road outside St. Julie Billiart Catholic Church, a polling place in North Ridgeville, and went elsewhere to cast their ballot. The voter who was turned away "did the only thing they could do," Jacobcik said. Voters cast 6,652 absentee ballots in the Aug. 8 election. The board voted unanimously to accept all but 40 for a 99.4 percent acceptance rate. Twenty-three ballots were not received on time, seven contained no voter identification, seven had no voter signature, and one had no stub attached. One ballot was rejected because the voter returned it to their regular polling location instead of the Board of Elections offices. Another was rejected because a voter likely signed his wife's absentee ballot for her, which isn't allowed. The board voted unanimously to refer the matter to the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office for review, "If only to say: Don't do it again," Jacobcik said. The board also is looking at a policy to limit non-voter access to the Board of Elections parking lot after complaints that people who weren't voting were blocking voter access to the ballot drop box and taking up handicapped parking spaces outside the board offices at 1985 North Ridge Road in Sheffield Township on Election Day. Jacobcik, Giardini, James and board member Jack Baird, a Republican, voted to consult their legal counsel at the prosecutor's office on an official policy that would limit board property to voters and those with board business during voting hours. The board will meet again at 3 p.m. Monday (Aug. 21) to certify the results of the Aug. 8 election. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.