MANSFIELD — The “Any Line, Any Time” mandate from Ohio Secretary of State was made official protocol for elections in all Ohio counties during last week’s conference in Cleveland.
Board of elections members will vote Tuesday, July 5 to make it official protocol in Richland County voting centers.
However, it doesn’t mean voters can go to any location in Richland County to cast a ballot, said Richland County Board of Elections Director Paulette Hankins. The idea is to make voting at large voting centers with multiple precincts easier and faster.
The easier it is to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 8 the better for everyone.
Hankins said the board of elections expects a 70 percent voter turnout in November. Richland County saw an 80 percent voter turnout during the 2008 presidential election, its highest in history, she said.
“But this one could quite possibly break a record,” Hankins said.
The amount of media attention the presidential elections have garnered thus far sets her voter turnout predictions high, she said.
“Depending on what happens from here, voters could get apathetic by the time it comes to vote,” she said.
Despite the possibility of a record high voter turnout in what has been an emotional campaign on both sides of the aisle, Hankins said no additional safety protocols will be in place. She said the sheriff’s department, by law, is on call to respond to any problems precincts report.
Board of elections board members have also been trained to notify poll workers of any incidents during election day.
“We won’t put any guards or anything like that at voting centers because of the intimidation factor. We don’t want to discourage voting,” Hankins said.
Secretary of State Jon Husted announced that his office will send out absentee request forms to every registered voter following Labor Day.
Early and absentee voting will begin around the first of October. Voters can vote either by mail or in person at the Board of Elections at 1495 W. Longview Ave. in the Lower Level Classroom.
Hankins said the room will contain nearly 25 electronic voting units.
Husted also announced his office received a $400,000 grant from the Pew Institute to be used for voter outreach efforts. Part of that effort will be making contact with over a million unregistered voters to try to get them registered before November’s election.
Richland County, with an estimated population of 120,000, has around 80,000 registered voters, Hankins said.
According to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, Richland County had a population of 122,673 in the 2012 census.
