Voters may vote early/absentee starting October 1 for the November 5, 2013 General Election. Registered voters may vote in person at the Richlanc County Board of Elections office located at 1495 W. Longview Avenue Suite 101. Voters are asked to use the building entrance at the rear of the Longview Center in the lower level parking lot at the southwest door.
Hours for absentee voting in person are the regular business hours of the Board office: 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. In addition to regular hours, voters may cast an absentee/early vote on the following dates/times:
• Monday October 7 – 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. This date is the deadline to register to vote, so the office will be open until 9 p.m.
• Monday October 14 – 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Columbus Day – open for poll worker training & absentee/early voting)
• Saturdays October 26 and November 2 – 8 a.m. until Noon
• Monday November 4 – 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
• All other days – Monday through Friday 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
For mailed absentee ballots, request forms may be downloaded from the Board of Electins website at: www.richlandcountyoh.us/boe. Or a letter requesting an absentee ballot be mailed to a voter is acceptable if it contains the following information:
- The voter’s name and Richland County address
- Address to mail ballot (if different than residence address)
- Voter’s signature (ballots will not be issued unless the request is signed by each individual voter)
- Voter’s birth date and one other form of identification such as the last four digits of their Social Security Number, driver’s license number or a copy of a utility bill, government document or bank statement.
- A statement that you are a qualified voter
- The General Election Date – November 5 , 2013
The above information should be mailed or delivered to: Richland County Board of Elections, 1495 W. Longview Ave. Suite 101, Mansfield Ohio 44906. Requests for mailed absentee ballots must be received by the Board at noon on Saturday Nov. 2.
The Richland County Board of Elections owns 522 TSX AccuVote Diebold Electronic Voting Units. Approximately 450 are deployed for use in polling places for each Election. Ten to 14 units are used in the board office for absentee Vvoting. Twelve units are reserved for poll worker training purposes, and another 10 are utilized for demonstrations throughout the community. The remaining units are in reserve for replacement or back-ups.
Each unit is thoroughly tested prior to each election in a testing procedure entitled “L & A” (Logic and Accuracy). This test requires approximately one man-hour per unit. Every race, every candidate, and every issue is test-voted to ensure accuracy in casting a ballot and tabulation. Additional functions of the unit are also tested, including time and date, calibration, and the printing of the audit log.
The L & A test is performed solely by Board of Elections workers. The entire election is programmed and reviewed solely by board employees. No vendors are involved in any parts of this process.
