Turnout good so far for special election

SANDUSKY — Early voting seems to show strong voter interest in Ohio's Aug. 8 special election, according to state and local election board officials. Local elections officials spoke Tuesday about the higher-than-normal early voting turnout for an August election, which typically attracts only a small percentage of voters. "As a staff, we are excited to see the turnout," said Alex Jones, director of the Erie County Board of Elections. "Obviously, when we have elections, we like to see people participate." Voters who don't cast their ballots early in person or use absentee ballots will be going to the polls from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday to decide a state question that would affect future state questions to amend the state constitution. If the question — known as Issue 1 — passes, those future state questions would require a majority of 60% to pass. The current rules declare a state question to have passed if it wins a simple majority of 50 percent plus one vote. As in Erie County, other local counties are reporting a good turnout for early voters. In Huron County, the election board director, Cecilia Blevins, said early voting numbers have been "really good." "It's been steady every single day since early voting started," she said. And in Ottawa County, the deputy director, Wendy Millinger, also reported good early numbers. "It's been a pleasure," Millinger said. "A lot of the voters are coming in." Voter turnout also has been strong statewide, according to news releases from Frank LaRose, Ohio's secretary of state. In Erie County, 4,364 people so far have voted early or have obtained absentee ballots, according to figures posted at the election board's website. That includes 2,059 Democrats, 1,418 Republicans, 886 unaffiliated voters and one Libertarian. Those numbers include just under 3,000 early votes cast in person and about 1,300 absentee ballots, Jones said. "This is a busier early voting season than what we've seen so far this year," he said. In Huron County, "We have had 1595 early in-person voters as of (Monday evening). We have sent out 854 absentee ballots to voters and 594 of those ballots have been returned," Blevins said in an email. "It has been a steady flow of voters but no lines to speak of," she said. The poll worker situation One issue that's been affecting local election boards has been making sure they have enough poll workers for Tuesday's special election. The election boards did not know until recently that they would have a special election and they have had to struggle with finding people for a summer election, when many people are on vacation or otherwise occupied. LaRose, who oversees state elections, has set a goal for every county to have 115% of the pollworkers who actually will be needed, so that each county will be in good shape if some workers can't show up on election day. By LaRose's count, Ottawa County has met the goal, but Erie and Huron counties have not. "We've been very lucky," said Milligan, referring to Ottawa County meeting LaRose's goal. The directors in Erie and Huron counties said that they are confident they will have the poll workers they need Tuesday. Jones said he expects to be fully staffed and ready to go at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. "I'm rather pleased with the poll worker situation, all things considered," he said. Blevins said she expects Huron County's election to be adequately staffed. "We're in pretty good shape," she said. Bring a photo ID Election officials point out that the special election Tuesday will be affected by a new state law that requires all voters to show up with a photo ID. Bringing in a utility bill with your name and address no longer will suffice. The photo ID must be current, not expired, and should have a name that corresponds with the name the election board has in its system, Jones said. But if you have moved recently, the address on the card does not have to be current; you just have to be able to verify your address is correct. Examples of photo ID cards that will be accepted include driver's licenses, state-issued ID cards, the temporary papers that the state issues to people waiting for their new driver license, military ID cards, Ohio National Guard cards and passports, Jones said. Ottawa County has tried hard to let everyone know about the new photo ID requirement, including sending out letters and emails and posting on social media, Millinger said.