MANSFIELD — Richland County voters who want to drop their absentee ballots off in a secured drop box, rather than by mail, will still need to come to the board of elections office at 1495 W. Longview Ave.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued a directive Monday that any of the state’s 88 county boards of election could vote to have more than one such drop box, provided any additional boxes are on the board’s property.
Some have argued, including in court, for additional drop boxes in multiple locations during the COVID-19 pandemic, when voters may hesitate to vote in person and may distrust the U.S. Postal Service to safely deliver their absentee ballot on time.
LaRose has resisted, questioning if he has such authority. On Friday, the 10th District Court of Appeals ruled that LaRose could allow multiple drop boxes in a county, saying nothing in state law prevents him from allowing it.
The state’s chief elections officer responded Monday with his directive, also saying a county elections board could also allow for bipartisan acceptance of votes outside the board offices.
Richland County Board of Elections Director Paulette Hankins said Monday the county will stick with the one drop box on the south side of the building.
“The directive reads that the receptacles still need to be right outside of our office, so it doesn’t seem logical to have more than one here, plus we don’t have time to order additional drop boxes since there’s about a 6 week lead time on ordering them. We will just monitor it and empty it more often if necessary,” Hankins said.
She said the local elections board will consider the option of staging bipartisan workers to accept ballots outside the building.
LaRose said Ohio voters now have more options to return absentee ballots than ever before.
“These options are in addition to the most convenient and commonly used method for voters to return absentee ballots – by mail – which continues to be a safe and standard method for absentee voting. Additionally, voters may cast a vote early in-person or in-person on election day,” LaRose said.
Early voting begins Tuesday across the state. Monday is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election and Hankins said the local board office will remain open until 9 p.m. for those who need to register.
Hankins said 15,308 Richland County voters have requested absentee ballots, more than twice as many at this point in the 2016 presidential general election cycle.
She also reminded local voters the local elections board is a bipartisan operation.
“Our staff is here to do the right thing for the voters while following the legal requirements. While we’re of course all affiliated with one party or the other, we don’t even consider party affiliation, but rather we base our decisions and policies on the law,” she said.
“We work in teams of a Republican and a Democratic staff member for each phase of our operations. We would like to remind voters that campaign apparel should not be worn when they come to vote early or at the polls, and there is to be no campaigning within 100 feet of the polling place, or early voting entrance,” she said.
Hankins said she is confident the county will have enough poll workers to handle the election.
“We’ll know more after we see how many who signed up actually come to our training Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon. We have also scheduled a condensed/abbreviated training session on Oct. 17 for those who can’t make either of the classes this week,” she said.
