MANSFIELD – It’s been three weeks since Richland County voters cast their ballots in the November election.
Four months from now, voters will again be asked to head to the polls for the 2024 primary election, scheduled March 19 due to the presidential election year.
Board of Elections reports 2024 budget proposal
Richland County Board of Elections Director Matt Finfgeld, along with Deputy Director Jane Zimmermann, met with Richland County commissioners Tuesday to present a proposed 2024 budget.
Commissioners Darrell Banks, Tony Vero and Cliff Mears told Richland Source earlier this month, they will not spend more than the county takes in each year, regardless of the county’s healthy carryover and “rainy day” funds in the millions.
Finfgeld wasted no time addressing the board of elections’ increased budget proposal, which is requesting slightly more than $1.2 million. That’s a 17.3-percent increase over 2023.
Commissioner Tony Vero said it’s important to take into consideration the rising costs of health insurance before reacting to the increased request.
“We have a significant health insurance increase, which is impacting a lot of budgets,” he said.
Noting next year is a presidential election year, Vero said budget increases are common.
“To be fair to them, the increase isn’t representative of wanting a lot of additional moneys,” he said.
‘Projecting a higher turnout’ leads to line item increases
Several line-item increases were discussed, including ballot printing supplies.
“We’re expecting more absentees (ballots) and sending more (paper) ballots out to the polls,” Finfgeld said.
“When we’re projecting a higher turnout, we’ll send more ballots out as well to make sure to accommodate for that,” the director said.
Finfgeld said more absentee and provisional ballots also creates an increase in mailing costs.
“We’re expecting more mailings (next year),” he said. “But, that’s just one example of things that do come up that we can’t always project. How much it’s going to be (cost), or how many it’s (mailings) going to be.”
Voter participation countywide and the City of Mansfield in 2023 were improvements over previous municipal election cycles.
In November, 40,718 out of 81,889 registered Richland County voters cast ballots, boasting a 49.72 percent participation rate.
The budget proposal also reflected an increase in the board of elections annual payment to TRIAD GSI, a voter registration software provider based in Ohio.
“They’re very accommodating and always ahead of things,” Finfgeld said. “That’s why they have 70-plus counties (contracted) in the State of Ohio, because of their customer service.”
Other budgetary increases reflected in the proposal include mileage, copier fees, monthly internet fees, drop-box live-streaming fees, and salaries.
Commissioner Cliff Mears expressed his appreciation for the hard work and dedication displayed by those at the board of elections.
“You guys are the core of democracy in Richland County, that’s the way I look at it,” Mears said.