Not all central Ohio elections officials happy about Aug. 8 vote, but say they'll be ready

Although there is some grumbling behind the scenes about Ohio's controversial decision to hold a special election Aug. 8 to decide State Issue 1, officials with county boards of elections in central Ohio say they'll be ready to provide the same fair, honest voting process as any other election.

If approved, Issue 1 would require a 60% supermajority of state voters to approve future amendments to the Ohio Constitution, compared to the simple 50% plus one majority that has stood since 1912.

Most central Ohio election officials say they will operate the usual number of polling places and expect to have enough poll workers to do the job, though the timing of the election during peak vacation season poses some hurdles. Ohio's Republican lawmakers, Gov. Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose have been criticized for holding the important election during the summer, when turnout may be low.

More coverage of Ohio Issue 1: What Ohioans need to know about the August election on Issue 1

Franklin County will consolidate 25, or a little more than 8%, of its usual 307 polling locations for a general election into 282 locations due to the unavailability of some buildings and expected lower voter turnout, said Aaron Sellers, spokesperson for the Franklin County Board of Elections.

Roughly 60,000 affected potential voters, or 7% of the county's registered electorate, will be notified directly of their new polling locations, he said.

"The good thing about this is that there's only one issue on the ballot," Sellers said. "We still have to make sure each machine has the correct ballot style."

Franklin County has more than half of about 5,000 poll workers who have already committed to work and have been "placed" at precincts, Sellers said. The county always tries to "over-recruit" to ensure adequate staffing, he said.

"We're election officials. We kind of read the tea leaves that this could happen, and we've prepared for this," Sellers said of an August special election. "At this point, we're pretty much all hands on deck."

The county elections board also voted in early June to permanently increase pay for poll workers to help ensure staffing.

County elections officials told The Dispatch that the demands placed on election workers creates turnover. By statute, poll workers in all 88 counties are paid a minimum of $133.72 for the long work hours on election days, which may last from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. in some cases. That translates into about $8.80 an hour plus additional pay for training. But counties have discretion to pay more for training and specific duties.

Including base pay, voting location managers in Franklin County can now earn a total of up to $333.72, an increase from $243.72. Location deputies can earn up to $303.72, an increase from $218.72, according to the county elections board. Roster (check-in), paper (ballot carriers), and machine judges can earn up to $278.72, an increase from $193.72.

“This increase is vital to retaining a large and talented pool of poll workers in a competitive marketplace,” Franklin County's deputy elections director David Payne said in a statement. “Without them, we would not be able to maintain our vital function of administering fair, impartial, and accurate elections."

Fairfield County also still looking for more trained poll workers due in part to summer vacations

Fairfield County Board of Elections director Brett Riffle said his county will have all 25 of its regular polling locations open and the election will be treated like any other.

The county typically needs about 300 poll workers to run a countywide election, and about 225 were committed to doing so as of last week.

Finding replacements for those poll workers who had pre-scheduled vacation can be an issue, Riffle said, especially replacing the veteran poll workers "who know what they're doing."

"A regular worker, a lot of them have apprehension to step up into that (supervisory) role because it’s much more demanding when you’re in charge of the location," he said. "Would it cause us to close or consolidate? Most likely not. We’d figure something out. We’d figure out a way to meet our minimum statutory requirement when it comes to poll workers per precinct.”

This will be Fairfield County's fourth consecutive August special election, Riffle said.

"Last year, of course, was the countywide one put on by the state legislature," he said. "They spent $20 million statewide to have an election that none of us election officials really believed they needed to have. And they're doing that once again. Yeah, that creates a problem for us.

"When you are having an election that you didn’t need to have, that you just outlawed six months ago and now we’re having it again, I think people in the industry remember that," Riffle said of poll workers. "It becomes very, very tough as an election administrator, and personally for me, to let everybody make vacation plans back in January, February because we’re not going to have an election. Then we turn around and have to cancel a lot of them."

Licking, Delaware and Union counties will have their usual number polling locations

Licking County is using all 27 of its polling locations Aug. 8, said Tess Wigginton, deputy director of the county's elections board.

"We're not having a problem hiring. But it's too early to tell for sure" whether the county will have the total number of workers it needs, she said.

As for grumblings about the Issue 1 vote potentially raising the threshold needed to vote to amend the Ohio Constitution, Wigginton said, "I'm sure that there's discontent. But it's not being voiced (by election workers). Our responsibility is to ensure that elections are conducted in a fair, secure and expeditious way, regardless of our party affiliation."

Karla Herron, director of Delaware County's elections board, had the same reaction to the expected 850 workers who will staff the county's 47 usual number of polling locations.

"Back in May, the morning after the news came out that there would be an election, I told my staff that I understood that there would be a lot of emotions and political opinion about it … and to just do your best to keep your opinions outside of the office. And they have," Herron said.

In Union County, 100 polling locations will be used, one below normal, said Brandon Clay, elections board director.

Only one location, the National Guard building, isn't available and will be replaced by the Union Rural Electric building.

As for poll workers, Clay said that "a couple of people told us that they can't come because of vacations. So we'll have to train some new people for the election."

Pickaway, Madison counties struggle to find Democrat poll workers

Pickaway County will use all 17 of its normal poll locations staffed by 106 workers, some of whom still may need to be replaced, said Sherry Brenot, who works for the county's elections board.

"It's difficult, especially to find Democrats because it's such a Republican county," Brenot said.

A similar problem exists in Madison County, where the six polling locations used in any other election will be available.

"We can't find Democrats," said Nikki Campbell, deputy director of the Union County elections board.

"Right now we have 87 (poll workers) who have signed up. We're a little short, but we're hoping to find a few more for one of our locations," Campbell said.

Because the special election is being held Aug. 8, Campbell said "we've had quite a few people tell us 'Nope, we can't do it'" because of previous commitments.

"We were all planning to have a free summer," she said. "But then this came along."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso

jbarron@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Not all happy with Aug. 8, but central Ohio election officials ready