The Licking County Board of Elections has this election-season wish for you: that your voting experience is secure and positive, if not also smooth and quick.
With early voting underway, the board and its directors have some advice to share, and they want you to know how the elections staff has been working these past few months to prepare for this presidential election.
Registered voters with an acceptable form of identification can vote between now and Election Day at the Early Voting Center in the basement of the Licking County Administration Building at 20 S. 2nd Street, next to Wendy’s and across from the courthouse, in downtown Newark.
Between now and the close of the polls on Nov. 5, Elections Board Director Brian Mead said he anticipates that up to 102,000 of Licking County’s more than 127,500 registered voters will cast ballots.
The elections board staff has set up 30 machines for early voting, compared to the seven or eight machines used in recent elections, said Deputy Director Tess Wigginton.
Read more: The Gears of Democracy
All of the machines in the Early Voting Center have been programmed to present a voter with all of the candidates and issues for each particular precinct, and the machines have been tested to make sure they are accurate. That process was done with a Republican and a Democrat in the room at all times.
Another 362 voting machines and 54 ballot scanners that will be used in Licking County on Election Day have been programmed and tested, which is no small thing. In this election, there are 134 separate ballots, reflecting the specific candidates and issues in each local jurisdiction.
When testing was completed the week before early voting began, each machine was locked and sealed, and all machines to be deployed on Election Day were placed in secure storage that can be accessed only when a Democrat and a Republican swipe their respective key cards at the same time to unlock the door.
Voting machines are not connected to the internet at any time, and do not have the capability to be connected to the internet, either with wires or wifi, Wigginton said. The same is true for the machines used to scan the paper ballots that are produced by each voting machine after each person votes.
The paper ballots drop into a heavy plastic tub locked within the scanner. When the polls close, the lids on the tubs are closed and locked with two keys – one by a Democrat and the other by a Republican. Scanned votes are recorded electronically on thumb drives within the scanners, which are removed by a Republican and Democrat after the polls close, and the drives are placed in pouches that are locked and sealed, then delivered to the Board of Elections office for tabulation in a secure room operated by representatives of both parties.
And, as an additional safety measure and back-up for each vote, there is a scroll of paper within each individual voting machine that tallies every vote cast on that machine.
“Everything we do here has two sets of eyes on it,” Wigginton said. “A Republican and a Democrat are involved in everything we do here.”
Mead said the total cost of the election in Licking County will be around $300,000 – up from the typical cost of about $200,000. The bulk of the cost is for about 400 poll workers who will be stationed at 27 polling locations throughout the county, he said. That is a larger number of poll workers than the usual election.
He said in an earlier interview that, by law, poll workers must be paid – typically between $175 and $195 each for the day. Location managers are paid about $295. Some offer to volunteer as a community service, but Mead says he tells them that he must pay them, and they can “donate their pay to their favorite candidate or charity, if they want to do that.”
Mead said that anyone who has physical challenges that make it difficult for them to stand in line to vote, or needs help for other reasons, can contact the board of elections and vote from their cars. He said a Republican and a Democrat will come to the car and assist the voter.
Here are some pro tips from Mead and Wigginton:
Have proper identification
Make sure you have a valid, unexpired form of photo identification. Triple check to make sure it is not expired. If you get to the polling place during early voting and find that your ID is expired, you can leave and go to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles office to renew your ID and obtain a temporary photo ID that will allow you to vote. Or, on Election Day, if you find that your ID is expired, you can vote provisionally, and your vote will be counted if you go to the Board of Elections within four days to produce your new ID.
Valid forms of a photo ID are an Ohio driver’s license; State of Ohio ID card; an interim ID form issued by the Ohio BMV; a U.S. passport; a U.S. passport card; a U.S. military ID card; an Ohio National Guard ID card; or U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ID card.
“You cannot use a utility bill with your address on it,” Mead said, nor can you use a Social Security card or birth certificate.
All photo IDs must have the following: an expiration date that has not passed; a photograph of the voter; the voter’s name, which must substantially conform to the voter’s name as it appears in the county’s poll list or in the poll book. NOTE: An unexpired Ohio Driver License, State ID Card, or Interim Documentation with your former address is an acceptable form of ID when your current address is in the poll book.
Poll workers will check the back of an Ohio drivers license. If it says “non-transferable, non-renewable” in small type in the upper righthand corner, it means that the drivers license belongs to a non-citizen, and that person will not be allowed to vote.
Do your homework
To avoid holding up the line of voters, do some reading before you go to the polls – especially when it comes to Issue 1, which addresses gerrymandering legislative and congressional districts in Ohio. “Issue 1 is very long,” Mead said during Monday’s Board of Elections meeting in Newark. “You’ll read a section, hit next, then another section, and then another.” It will help if you read it ahead of time, he said.
State-Issue-1-2024
You can read about candidates in countywide contested races on The Reporting Project site during the coming days.
And you can tune in to WCLT’s Kate 98.7 radio station from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10, to hear many candidates in those races answer questions about how, if elected, they plan to handle issues affecting Licking County residents. The forum is sponsored by the WCLT Radio Group, the Licking County Farm Bureau and The Reporting Project.
Who will be on my ballot?
Candidates for president, vice president, U.S. Senate and congressional seats will be on your ballot, along with candidates for Ohio House and Senate seats, and three contested Ohio Supreme Court seats.
For president, Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, both Democrats, are running against former President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, who are Republicans.
In the race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Cleveland, is opposed by Republican Bernie Moreno of Cleveland and Libertarian Don Kissick of Ottawa.
Running for U.S. Representative from the 12th District is incumbent Republican Troy Balderson of Zanesville and Democrat Jerrad Christian, of Galena.
Election-Licking-County-candidates-fall-2024
Candidates for Ohio Supreme Court are Republican Megan Shanahan running against incumbent Democrat Michael Donnelly, Republican Joseph Deters running against incumbent Democrat Melody Stewart, and Democrat Lisa Forbes running against Republican Daniel Hawkins.
Running unopposed for three seats on the 5th District Court of Appeals, which includes Licking County, are Republicans Robert Montgomery, Kevin Popham and David Gormley.
In the race for a four-year term in the state Senate, Republican incumbent Tim Schaffer of Lancaster is opposed by Nick Hubbell of Johnstown. In the race for a two-year term as state representative in the 68th Ohio House district, Republican incumbent Thad Claggett of Newark is opposed by Democrat Michael Smith of Newark. And in the race for a two-year term in the 69th Ohio House district, Republican Kevin Miller, of Newark, is opposed by Democrat Jamie Hough of Heath.
Licking County voters will find candidates for two contested races for county commissioner’s seats, along with a long list of candidates in uncontested races. Democrat James Snedden of St. Louisville is running against incumbent Republican County Commissioner Tim Bubb, of Heath; and Democrat Bryn Bird, a Granville Township trustee from Granville, is running against incumbent Republican County Commissioner Duane Flowers of Hanover.
Running unopposed for countywide offices are Prosecuting Attorney Jenny Wells, Common Pleas Court Clerk Olivia Parkinson, Sheriff Randy Thorp, Recorder Bryan Long, Treasurer Roy Van Atta, Engineer Jared Knerr, and Coroner Michael Campolo. All are Republicans.
You can find everything on your ballot by going to the elections board website. Click on “Election info” and then on “Ballots.” Then make sure the first menu box is set to the Nov. 5 general election. And in the second menu box, type in “city” or “village” or “township,” and another menu box will appear that will allow you to type in your specific township, village or city. And then, it will pull together a sample ballot that tells all of the issues and races that will appear on your ballot.
What issues will I find on the ballot?
Issue 1 is the big one. That’s the statewide issue to address gerrymandering.
Voters will be asked to renew a levy for senior citizens’ services. It’s 1.2 mills for five years, and it will cost $26 per $100,000 in property valuation.
Voters in some unincorporated areas of the county will be asked to approve aggregation of electricity and and natural gas.
West Licking Joint Fire District is seeking an additional property tax of 4 mills for five years for fire protection and emergency medical services.
Election-issues-Licking-County-Fall-2024
Alexandria, Buckeye Lake, Gratiot, Hanover, Hebron and Johnstown all have tax issues on the ballot, as do the townships of Bowling Green, Harrison, Hopewell, Jersey, Liberty, Licking, Mary Ann, Newark, Newton and Perry.
The Granville Public Library is seeking a property tax renewal and increase – 1.25 mills for five years for current expenses.
Buckeye Lake and Granville have charter amendments on the ballot
Heath, Jersey Township, Licking Township, Newark, and Pataskala all have liquor issues on the ballot.
And the Village of Hanover has an issue before voters asking whether the village should authorize the Licking County Building Code Enforcement Department to enforce residential codes in the village.
Surprise candidates
Mead said some voters might be surprised to see more than two candidates for president on the ballot. “There are six teams running for president and vice president,” he said. And there are five write-in teams. For the U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in Ohio, there are three candidates, plus a spot to write in any of four write-in candidates.
Be careful with those write-ins
If you check the box for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump for president, don’t also write in their names, Mead said, adding that only votes for candidates who have been certified for the ballot will count. “No matter how much you like Mickey Mouse or Iron Man, it won’t count if you write them in,” he said.
In the last election, said Elections Board Member Kaye Hartman, several people wrote in “Jesus,” and that didn’t count, either.
Hours when you can vote
Early, in-person voting hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Oct. 18. From Oct. 21-25, the office is open until 6 p.m. And the Early Voting Center is open on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 27, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Office hours are even longer starting the next week: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 28; and 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29. From Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, the hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The final days for early, in-person voting are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2; and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3.
Mead anticipated the first day or two of early voting would be busy, then they’ll see a slower, steady stream of voters until the last 10 days, when longer lines will form. He said he expects about 40,000 people to vote early, and “20,000 of them will vote during the first three weeks, and about 20,000 will vote in the last 10 days.”
Wigginton said the last weekend – Nov. 2 and 3 – will be the busiest days. “They’ll be lined up here at 1 p.m. after church on Sunday,” she said.
There will be no early voting on Monday, Nov. 4.
In-person voting on Election Day will be from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Absentee ballots not being mailed must be returned to the board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 5. Mailed ballots that are postmarked on or before Nov. 4 must be received by Nov. 9.
In total, Mead estimates that up to 102,000 Licking County residents will have voted by the time the polls close on Nov. 5.
Alan Miller writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.