Elections officials from 6 area counties to discuss upcoming election
Oct. 4—Elections officials from counties in the Dayton and Springfield regions are scheduled to hold a joint news conference today to discuss the upcoming General Election and issues on the ballot.
Montgomery, Greene, Clark, Darke, Miami and Warren county officials are expected at the 2 p.m. news conference at the Montgomery County Administration building. Preble County Board of Elections officials are not able to come but Director Lisa Boggs said on Monday that they are seeing tremendous voter enthusiasm, with an increase in voter registration and "exceptionally high" requests for absentee ballots.
"We are seeing quite a bit of interest in this election," Boggs said. "Especially now that we're past the confusion of what was on the ballot or not on the ballot in May, and what was on in August."
In Warren County, voter registrations are at coming in at a normal pace, said Brian Sleeth, elections board director there and president of the Ohio Association of Election Officials.
The deadline for registering is Oct. 11, the day before early voting begins. You can check to see if you are registered by going to the Ohio Secretary of State's My Voter Information page.
"We have seen a increase in absentee requests. Right now we have 18,000 requests so far and all of 2018 election we had a total of 22,400 by mail," said Sleeth, making a comparison to the last mid-term election.
Voters can request an absentee ballot from the Ohio Secretary of State's publications page and then print out and mail the request. Applications can also be obtained by calling the county board of elections office.
"We ask those wishing to mail in their ballots to give plenty of time," Boggs said.
"Some boards such as ours pay for tracking. We have a link on our website for the voter to track the ballot through USPS," Sleeth said. "Also voters should get the USPS mail alert and can see pictures of their mail before it arrives."
Sleeth and Boggs both said election security is critical.
"Election security is always at the top of the list. (Ohio Secretary of State Frank) LaRose just issued a new security directive to all boards that must be completed before the end of the year," Sleeth said. "There is a lot of work done in the background to make sure elections are safe and secure."
Boggs said her office is reviewing its Election Administration Plan.
"(It) spells out what polling locations are to do if they have any incidents and will review it during training," Boggs said. "It also directs us who to contact on our end."
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