MANSFIELD — The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t slow early, in-person voting in Richland County on Tuesday.
More than twice as many Richland County residents took advantage of “opening day” in the 2020 presidential election campaign, as compared to 2016.
Richland County Board of Elections Director Paulette Hankins said 1,066 residents voted in-person on Tuesday, up from 463 in 2016, 412 in 2012 and 252 in 2008.
Waiting an average of 15 minutes to cast ballots, Hankins said there was fairly bipartisan participation at the board office at 1495 W. Longview Ave. She said 358 registered Democrats and 391 registered Republicans cast ballots, as well as 317 voters who were non-partisan.
Hankins said the first day of early voting went better than she expected.
“We had conducted practice sessions with all of our seasonal and regular staff on Friday and Monday to make sure everyone was up to speed for the influx of voters Tuesday morning,” she said.
Hankins said there was a line of 75 to 100 voters waiting when doors opened at 8 a.m. Waiting for them were 10 workers to issue ballots and six more to monitor lines and direct voters into and out of the voting center, preventing congestion.
A few other workers spent time sanitizing the voting machines after use and sanitizing the voter access cards and pens, Hankins said. Hand sanitizer was available at the entrance and exit to the voting center, as well as gloves and masks for voters who requested them.
“One woman had been in line since 6:30 a.m. Voters were excited and very pleased with the process. We received many positive comments,” she said.
Hankins said just one or two voters refused to wear a mask.
“A couple of people were asked to cover up political attire or turn their masks inside out so as to not display a candidate’s name, and they readily agreed to do so,” she said.
Thanks to a $66,237.50 grant sponsored by Mark Zuckerburg from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, poll workers will each receive a $50 one-time bonus payment for working the election during the pandemic.
“We wanted to show our appreciation for the poll workers who have agreed to work this election in spite of the COVID pandemic,” Hankins said, adding the bonus payments will total about $22,000. “The board agreed and unanimously voted to allow us to pay all the poll workers and rovers a one-time ‘hazardous duty’ pay, in addition to their regular pay for working the polls and their training pay.
“The rest of the grant money will go towards paying extra seasonal workers, purchasing a couple of air purifiers for a few of our polling places with poor air circulation, scheduling additional poll worker training courses, and other COVID-related expenses.”
Early, in-person voting will continue through Nov. 2, one day before the Nov. 3 election day, even if Richland County becomes the first in the state Thursday to be designated “purple,” or level four, under Ohio’s Public Health Advisory System,
“We are considered essential workers and will still continue early voting as scheduled,” Hankins said.
