T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA
Belmont County Board of Elections Director Aaron Moore informs the Belmont County Board of Commissioners about election security and efficiency.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The security and accuracy of local elections dominated discussion at the Belmont County Board of Commissioners meeting Wednesday.
County Elections Director Aaron Moore and Deputy Director Kamron Chervenak talked to the commissioners Wednesday about the upcoming Nov. 5 election. Moore discussed how elections generally are run, noting that almost everyone at the meeting has either worked at the polls or currently holds an elected position.
Commissioner Jerry Echemann asked Moore if he would be allowed to work at his own voting precinct in Martins Ferry since, even though he is an elected official he is not on the ballot this year. Moore replied that he could, but there is no guarantee that poll workers will work at the precinct they would vote in. He added it depends on the availability of staff for each polling location.
“Elections in Ohio are very secure and safe, I believe,” Moore said. “Every (absentee ballot) application that comes into our office gets processed by our staff. We review the identification, their signature, birthday and address. Once things are reviewed and processed before ballots are shipped out, and labels and ballot numbers are matched with applications to verify votes are getting the accurate ballot and accurate envelope identifications,” he said. “Those identification envelopes have birthdays, identification and signatures on them that get reviewed by our bipartisan team in our office.”
The county board of elections is required by law to be made up of half Republicans and half Democrats to ensure fairness.
“Our board is four members, two Democrats and two Republicans,” Moore said.
“And it goes down our entire staff, even down to the clerks are all staggered,” Chervenak added.
Echemann responded to Moore and Chervernak, asking if a Libertarian or independent voter would be able to secure a job with the board of elections.
“We can hire non-affiliates, but again we always have to have matching ones,” Moore replied. “There are positions and jobs that they can do, but there are safeguards in which we would like a bipartisan team to overlook or double-check the process.”
Echemann asked Moore how many early voting ballots had been cast in person or returned to the Belmont County Board of Elections. Moore responded that as of Wednesday, 3,118 ballots had been placed in the ballot box on site at the board of elections. He added that he wasn’t sure of the exact number of mail-in ballots received, but he said the board of elections received roughly 7,500 mail-in ballot requests.
Moore said he believed the board had already received 50% of the mail-in ballots that it mailed out to people who requested them.
Echemann asked Moore to clarify if someone dropping off a ballot to the drop box was considered in-person voting or mail-in. Commissioner J.P. Dutton interjected, informing Echemann that it is considered a mail-in ballot. Dutton added that he is an absentee voter and said he believes there are restrictions in place for delivering a ballot to the drop box.
“I can’t just hand it to anyone to be delivered for me, correct?” Dutton asked.
Moore confirmed that was correct.
“You can only drop off a family member’s, or if you are helping out a disabled voter then you can drop off for them,” Moore said. “If you are dropping a ballot other than yourself, you need to come into our office to turn it in.”
He added that the individual delivering the ballot would have to fill out a form indicating who they are and who they are dropping it off for.
Echemann asked how the board would be able to know if, in the middle of the night, he dropped off Dutton’s ballot. Moore replied that the drop box is monitored with 24-hour surveillance cameras that get reviewed daily as well as signage instructing voters that if they are dropping off for a family member they must do it while the board of elections is open for business.
“If there’s something we do believe is suspicious or something worth looking into, we will do more investigating and talk to a prosecutor about that,” Moore said.
Dutton noted that absentee ballots are now trackable. Moore agreed and added that the Belmont County Board of Elections website can inform a voter of the day their ballot was received in the office and if there were any issues regarding their ballot. Moore said that all a voter would have to do to track their ballot is to put their information into the Belmont County Board of Elections website.
Pultney Township Trustee Frank Shaffer said he believes elections in Belmont County are just as accurate if not more accurate than those conducted anywhere else in the country.
“I’ve been working polls for probably over 30 years and these guys do a tremendous job out there, from the board to all of the workers. I’ve seen it first hand. They just run flawlessly,” Shaffer said. “No mistakes are being made here. I’m telling you, you wouldn’t be able to have anything more accurate than what they do.”
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