Investigation of alleged mishandling of provisional ballots sent to Lorain County Prosecutor

An investigation into the alleged mishandling of unmarked provisional ballots the day before the March 19 primary is now in the hands of the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. Lorain County Sheriff's Capt. Robert Vansant's investigation "revealed that at no time were the ballot bags ever compromised, tampered with, or thrown away," he wrote in a report, which he forwarded to prosecutors. Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson confirmed Wednesday that his office had received Vansant's report. The matter is under review, he said. According to Vansant's report, requested by and provided to the Chronicle-Telegram on Wednesday, the sheriff's office was made aware of a Facebook video showing poll worker and former Lorain law director, Mark Provenza entering the MAHD House Bar & Grille on North Ridge Road on March 18 carrying ballot bags, including a yellow one labeled "provisional ballots." The bar is across the street from Lorain County Board of Elections offices at 1985 North Ridge Road. Elections officials said the bags were sealed and labeled with serial numbers, that the ballots were blank and that no votes were in danger of being altered. Video from the bar was provided to the sheriff's office. It showed Provenza entering the bar, ordering food and a drink, and putting the sealed ballot bags into black plastic garbage bags. Vansant interviewed MAHD House owner James Tucker, who said he became concerned when he saw the bags were marked "provisional ballots." He got "increasingly concerned" when Provenza started putting the ballot bags into garbage bags, he told Vansant. Provenza then walked away from the bags and up to the bar. Vansant reported that he was provided a photo of Provenza's credit card receipt for a Columbus IPA and a meatloaf sandwich. "I discovered that the subject was Mark Provenza. I am familiar with Provenza when he was formally the law director with the city of Lorain," Vansant wrote. Other video clips provided to Vansant from the exterior of the bar showed Provenza and Board of Elections employee Malik Anderson crossing North Ridge Road from the direction of Gargus Hall. The former banquet center is used to store supplies for the Board of Elections. Anderson was seen on video carrying the bags, while Provenza carried nothing. The two men then went inside the bar, where Anderson put the bags in the booth, spoke briefly with Provenza then left. In an interview with Vansant, Anderson confirmed Provenza told him about having car trouble, and said he helped Provenza by carrying the supplies to the bar so Provenza could wait on a tow truck. "Anderson advised that he thought the ordeal was strange and after a brief conversation, he left the bar and went back to the Board of Elections," Vansant wrote. Video showed Provenza walked away and left the ballot bags in the booth, but later returned and put them into the black garbage bags, according to Vansant's report. Provenza later told Vansant he did this "to keep them safe from the weather," according to the report. More video showed Provenza outside the bar later, carrying a yellow ballot bag in his left hand and a garbage bag under his left arm. "Provenza appears to struggle with the weight or positioning of the bags," Vansant wrote. Shortly after, Provenza approached a car he told Vansant and elections officials was a ride share he called because he was having car trouble, got in and was driven to his home in Lorain, according to Vansant's report. In interviews with Vansant, elections Director Paul Adams, a Democrat, and Deputy Director James Kramer, a Republican, they said Provenza was the assigned assistant site manager at the polling location at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on Tower Boulevard in Lorain. The elections officials told Vansant that Provenza told them his car broke down in the parking lot of the MAHD house, that he called a tow truck to come get it, and that he needed help getting supplies to his vehicle. Adams had Anderson help Provenza with the bags, according to the report. Adams also told Vansant that he had elections clerk Ashley Fuller go to Provenza's assigned polling location to "make sure that the bags still had the seals attached and sealed and that the bags contained the numbers assigned to that particular location," which she confirmed. Adams said "that it is not uncommon for the polling site managers to arrange to pick up the supplies for the election days before Election Day," Vansant wrote. "Adams did indicate that they suggest the items be kept in a safe and secure location and that they should not be taken to a public place, especially a bar." Fuller told Vansant she showed up at St. Nicholas Church at 5:30 a.m. March 19, an hour before the polls opened, spoke with Provenza "and confirmed that all of the bags were still accounted for and that the original seals were intact and the numbers did correspond with the numbers assigned to the polling location," Vansant wrote. Adams relieved Provenza of his duties "due to the lapse in judgment," the deputy wrote. Vansant then interviewed Provenza at the church and he repeated what he told elections officials. Provenza told Vansant he got a call asking for his help at a polling location, that he agreed to help and was assigned as a site manager. Provenza admitted putting the bags in a booth and putting them in garbage bags to protect against the weather, that he ordered lunch and a beer, then waited on the hired car to come pick him up as he had been having car trouble, according to Vansant's report. The bags "never left his sight and they were never tampered with," Provenza told Vansant, according to the investigator's report. "The bags were never opened until the date of the election and after he had received instructions from the Board of Elections staff." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.