SIDNEY — The Secretary of State’s office has concluded an ADA inspection at seven voting locations in Shelby County.
Shelby County Board of Elections board member Merrill Asher told the board he, Director Pamela Kerrigan and Assistant Director Donnie Chupp all learned something new during the inspections.
“We spent 45 minutes at each place,” said Asher. “We’re waiting for his laundry list (of things that need done). Some things he looked at were not in the manuals we have.”
Asher said at several locations there were flat screen televisions which were “not as flat as they needed to be.”
Asher said at the Jackson Center location, the striping for the handicapped parking space was not painted. The matter will be looked into, as the board had paid for the work to be completed.
He said they learned Anna School will be revamping the entrance to the building beginning in the summer of 2019. The board will need to know the time frame for the work in case there’s an election in August.
Work is also being planned at the community center in Port Jefferson, he said.
“Are these suggestions or requirements?” asked board Chairman Chris Gibbs. “We need to keep that in mind when we receive the report.”
Also to be determined is who will be responsible for the costs to have the work completed so the election site is ADA compliant.
The number of ballots to have printed for the November election was finalized at the meeting. Ballots must be in house by the time absentee ballots can be cast.
Chupp told the board that the Secretary of State’s directive said the local boards had to look at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 elections to see which one had the most voters casting ballots. They must then order 10 percent more ballots of the most voted election.
Chupp said the 2010 was the most voted election where 18,343 cast their votes. The county has 32,000 eligible voters.
He presented three options on how many ballots to order. The options were based on voter turnout, which could be high because of the election of a new governor, U.S. representative, Ohio representatives, State Issue 1 and local tax issues on the ballot.
Option 1 predicts a 75 percent voter turnout. The ballots would cost $8,700. Option 2 predicts an 80 percent voter turnout with a cost of $9,088 for ballots.
Option 3, which is the staff’s recommendation, calls for an 85 percent (27,917 voters) turnout. Ballots will cost $9,500.
“Sidney Schools has a levy on the ballot,” said Chupp. “The superintendent pushing the levy. They are registering people to vote at the football games.
After a discussion of how many inactive voters there are in the county, the board approved Option 3 to determine how many ballots will be ordered. Each ballot costs 34 cents.
In other business, the board:
• Learned an updated polling location agreement has been drafted and the Shelby County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing it. Agreements will be sent out after the November election and will be effective for the calendar year.
• Agreed to allocated voting equipment for the November election. Five e-poll books will be at the Sidney VFW, four at the Shelby County Fairgrounds and one at every other voting location in the county.
• Learned a stress test/cyber security meeting is planned for Friday morning.
• Learned the county will be reimbursed for voting equipment purchased during an upgrading of the system. They will be reimbursed for the purchase of six machines.
• Learned training dates have been set for all poll workers. The board is required to train all poll workers this year. Training will be held Oct. 3 -18 at the board office.
• Went into executive session to discuss personnel. No action was taken.
The board’s next meeting will be Monday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 a.m. at the board office.
