General election 2022: Early voting, poll volunteering up in Wayne, Ashland & Holmes

Bryce Buyakie, The Daily Record
·4 min read

More people are voting early in this general election than in previous years except for 2020, according to local boards of elections.

In Wayne County, early voting is up compared to the last gubernatorial election in 2018, according to Bryon Bell's estimates.

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"Absentee votes are a bit higher in this election than in 2018, but there are definitely more people early voting in person now," said Bell, the elections technology manager at the Wayne County Board of Elections.

With this higher turnout, Bell expects more voters to turn out on Tuesday, Nov. 8, Election Day, but he cautions people to double-check their polling location as some have changed in Wayne, Ashland and Holmes counties.

Early voting is up

Nearly 1,783 Wayne County registered voters had cast ballots in person at the county board of elections as of Wednesday, Oct. 26, he said.

There have been 8,930 absentee ballot requests, 59 military or overseas ballot requests and 259 requests for seniors living in assisted living homes, Bell said.

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In Holmes County there have been 1,902 absentee ballot requests with 425 voting in person, 12 abroad and 44 at nursing homes.

Nearly 1,409 people have voted in person at the Ashland County Board of Elections as of Tuesday, Oct. 25, according to the board office.

There have been 2,941 votes by mail, 70 nursing home voting requests and 22 military or abroad ballots cast.

In person absentee voting ends at 2 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7, while mail requests must be sent to the boards of elections by noon on Saturday, Nov. 5.

More people signing up to be poll workers

As electoral interest increases this year, Bell said, the Wayne County Board of Elections has more polling volunteers than in recent past elections.

It is one of nearly 49 counties, including Holmes County, to reach the goal of having more than enough people committed to staffing polling places on Election Day, according to the Ohio Secretary of State's website using data from Oct. 24.

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Other counties to reach the goal include Summit, Medina, Portage, Knox, Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga counties.

"We normally have to scramble to fill spots, but this year we have a good bench of alternatives," he said.

Ashland and Stark counties reached the minimum number of poll workers needed. Ashland County is seven workers short and Stark is nearly 80 away from the committed goal.

While local elections boards dealt with staffing shortages, paper supply chain issues and redistricting uncertainties during the primary election, Bell said, the 2022 general election has been "by the book."

"We ordered paper early in the year to get ahead of the supply chain issues, and we're doing well on poll workers," he said.

Changes in precinct polling locations

Some polling locations have changed in Wayne, Ashland and Holmes counties, but most remain the same.

Wayne County

  • The Paint Township precinct 1 voting location has returned to the New Leaf Community Center at 16014 E. Chestnut St., Mt. Eaton.

  • Sugar Creek Township precinct 2 has returned to P. Graham Dunn at 630 Henry St., Dalton.

  • Chippewa Township precincts 4 and 5, for all village of Doylestown voters, have been moved to Crossroads Community Church at 700 Gates St. in Doylestown.

Ashland County

  • Those who voted at the Green-Perrysville Fire Station or the Loudonville Library will now cast their ballots at the American Legion, 131 S. Water St. in Loudonville. This includes precincts 16, 17, 18 and 19.

  • The Trinity United Methodist Church voting location has changed to the Jeromesville Fire Station, 20 W. North St. in Jeromesville. This includes precinct 26.

  • The precinct 34 Continental Country Banquet Hall voting location has been changed to Bethel Baptist Church at U.S. Route 250 in Savannah.

Holmes County

  • The Washington Township precinct voting location was changed to Nashville Church of Christ at 13457 state Route 39 in Big Prairie just east of Nashville Elementary School.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Election 2022: Early voting, poll volunteering up in Wayne, Ashland