Some candidates got bounced from the November election and Lorain County will get 10 new precincts and likely a new company to supply ballots.
On Aug. 13, the Lorain County Board of Elections met to certify candidates and issues and prepare for the Nov. 2 vote.
Off the ballot
Board members Marilyn Jacobcik, Inez James, Anthony Giardini and Jack Baird considered 13 cases of candidates making mistakes on their petitions — with some being rejected from appearing on the ballot.
Some paperwork problems stemmed from candidates printing off their own documents instead of using petitions given by the elections board, said Jacobcik, board chairwoman.
There is nothing wrong with candidates printing the papers, but they should check with the board of elections because staff have guides and forms to help potential candidates avoid problems, Jacobcik said.
Board Director Paul Adams agreed and noted the wrong petitions can lead to fatal errors for candidate paperwork.
Other mistakes dealt with wrong dates, not having the required legal language together with signature pages and not enough signatures.
Considering the cases, the board members review the elected office and paperwork mistakes without candidate names or party affiliations, when possible, to avoid any appearance of bias, Adams said.
He added there are hundreds of candidates running for local offices in November, so the amount of mistakes and disqualifications is relatively small.
Apparent outcomes?
It appeared the board decisions to reject some candidates could affect races by withdrawing candidates from contested elections.
For example, Lorain City Schools board of education candidate Charmaine Williams was rejected for an error that resulted in not having enough signatures. That leaves three candidates — Jay Ferguson, Bill Sturgill and Barbie Washington — running for three seats.
For Elyria City School Board, candidate Jessica Sen was rejected for not having enough signatures. That leaves one candidate, Annie Carstarphen, on the ballot for two school board seats.
In Midview Local Schools, Mary Addi was rejected due to a problem with petition and signature dates. That leaves two candidates, Thomas B. Tomasheski and Janet L. Winslow, running for three seats.
Wellington Township trustee candidate Amy Sword, Eaton Township trustee candidate Sabrina Burrington and Wellington Exempted Village School board candidate Kelly Keith also were disqualified in the board action of Aug. 13.
There is an Aug. 23 deadline for people to file to run as write-in candidates for any races on the November ballot.
However, by Ohio law, the people disqualified by the elections board’s Aug. 13 votes may not file to run as write-ins for the same positions, Adams said.
If the school boards do not have enough candidates to fill open positions, as of Jan. 1, the open seats become vacancies in office and the boards follow their legal procedures for filling those vacancies, Adams said.
New ballot company
The board members opened bids for paper ballots needed for the November election.
Integrated Voting Systems of Berea was the apparent low bidder with a price of $70,090 for the work.
The bids were based on cost per copy and delivery of about 99,000 absentee, provisional, test and election day ballots. Jacobcik noted the board vote was conditional and the contract award is pending a staff and legal review of the bid paperwork.
The other bidders were Election IQ LLC, which bid $86,372, and Midwest Direct, which bid $84,900.
Previously Lorain County hired Midwest Direct for the ballots. In October last year, the company made national news for delays sending ballots by mail, including those for Lorain County, in the lead up to the November 2020 presidential election.
At the time Adams called the 10-day delay “completely unacceptable,” but the owner of the Cleveland-based company said “unparalleled volume” caused the slowdown.
New precincts
Lorain County will grow from 193 precincts to 203.
By law, precincts are to have 1,400 registered voters, so when population increases in some places, new precincts are required.
Voters will be notified their precincts are changing. But Adams emphasized even with those new precincts, voting locations will not change for anyone in them.
The precincts to be added are:
• Avon City 1-F
• Avon City 1-G
• Avon Lake City 1-E
• Avon Lake City 2-E
• Lorain City 8-G
• Lorain City 8-H
• North Ridgeville City 1-F
• Henrietta Township 2
• LaGrange Village South. The village will increase from one precinct representing the entire village to two precincts, LaGrange Village North and LaGrange Village South.
• Wellington Village East. The village will increase from two precincts representing the village to three precincts, Wellington Village North, Wellington Village East and Wellington Village West.
Polling place change
The Avon Branch of the Lorain Public Library System, 37485 Harvest Drive, is having construction for an expansion. It was the polling place for voters of Avon’s Precinct 2-B.
Those voters’ polling place will be moved to Ragan Hall, 1738 Moore Road, Avon. The polling place will remain there until construction is completed and the elections board can consider moving back to the library.
In Avon Lake, Learwood Middle School, 340 Lear Road, no longer will be a polling place; Holy Spirit Parish, down the street at 410 Lear Road, replaced that location and will remain a voting station for Avon Lake voters.
Numbers up
The board certification included numbering the 42 issues that will appear on the ballot in communities around the county.
There are no state issues so the Lorain County issues will be numbered 1 through 4:
• 1 – A five-year, .3-mill additional levy for the county coroner and crime lab
• 2 – A five-year, .06-mill renewal with decrease for the county TB clinic
• 3 – A five-year, .5-mill renewal for Lorain County Public Health
• 4 – A hotel-motel bed tax to pay for a convention center
Changing Lorain’s city council terms from two to four years will be Issue 8. The proposed five-year, 1.5-mill city park levy will be Issue 9 and the proposed city charter will be Issue 10.
Lorain Schools’ five-year, 6.8-mill additional levy will be Issue 37.
The full list is at voteloraincountyohio.gov.
Vermilion charter
The board members voted to accept five proposed city charter amendments for Vermilion.
City Clerk of Council Gwen Fisher, Ward 3 Councilman Stephen Holovacs and attorney Homer Taft appeared at the board meeting in hopes of speaking about potential legal conflicts and getting the issues off the ballot.
The elections board and Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Dan Petticord agreed for charter cities, they generally defer to a city law director to determine the appropriateness of filing charter issues for a public vote.
The charter changes appear as Issues 15, 16, 18, 19 and 20 on the ballot.
