County officials ready for busy general election
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STEUBENVILLE -- With the Nov. 7 general election about a month away, the Jefferson County Board of Elections reminds voters there is more than one way to make their voices heard.
Director Robert Gale figures it's going to be a busy election, given the local races on the ballot plus two high-profile statewide ballot issues -- a constitutional amendment addressing reproductive rights and an issue that would legalize recreational cannabis in the state.
He said Jefferson County has about 45,000 registered voters.
"We expect a big turnout because of Issue 1 and Issue 2," Gale said. "Just like in August (the special election) when we surpassed our numbers by far, we feel this general election also will surpass (turnout) from the past."
But he points out voters have options:
ö Beginning Wednesday, in-person early voting is available in the elections office, located on the ground floor of the Jefferson County Tower at 500 Market St.: Voting hours will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, Oct. 16 through Oct. 20 and Oct. 23 through Oct. 27; from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30; from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 31; and from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1-3. Weekend voting will be offered from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 4 and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 5.
"Voters can early vote at our office only during these dates and times," Gale said. "All they need to vote is to be an Ohio registered voter and have a valid Ohio form of ID or a valid passport. No appointment is necessary."
• Also Wednesday, workers will begin mailing absentee ballots to those who filed the required absentee ballot application. The last day to turn in an absentee ballot request is Oct. 31.
"Anyone who wants to vote by absentee ballot must send in their absentee request form for a ballot to be mailed out," he said.
• Polls will be open Nov. 7 from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. for those who didn't take advantage of in-office or absentee voting.
This time around, he said there are an unusually large number of write-in races. For voters who want to choose a write-in candidate, that means filling in the oval on their ballot and then writing in the name of the person they want to see elected. Elections workers will inspect every ballot to make sure it's absolutely clear who they cast their vote for.
He said the instructions are on every ballot.
"Voters should make every attempt to put the name in correctly, but if they misspell it by a letter or two, we would accept it, but voters should try to be accurate," he said.
Gale said write-in candidates and ballot numbers "won't be counted until after the election board has received all the ballots and adjudicated all the ballots received in office and at the polls."
"It will be the final thing that will be done -- by state law those numbers don't have to be completed until noon the next day," he said. "It will be a very time-consuming effort to count all the write-in ballots in such a large voting population as Steubenville, and we also have about four other races that are write-ins countywide that we have to look at and adjudicate."
He said there's no point writing in random names or trying to be funny: Write-ins can only be counted for those who actually filed their candidacy as a write-in with the board of elections.
"If they haven't done that and you write in 'Mickey Mouse,' it won't count," he said, pointing to a past election when voters penciled in an individual's name who hadn't filed candidacy papers. If he had, "it would have been close," he said.
Gale also encouraged anyone who'd like to work the polls or help set up polling equipment to call his office at (740) 283-8522.
"We're always looking for poll workers and individuals that can work three days delivering and setting up polling equipment," he said. "Give us a call."
And, Gale offered a reminder that Tuesday is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 7 election. The board of elections will be open until 9 p.m. for anyone who still needs to complete that process.