WILMINGTON — The Clinton County Board of Elections (BOE) has had a very high volume of absentee ballot requests, with demand continuing to increase, the director reported this week.
“In order to handle this high volume of absentee ballot requests, regular staff is working double shifts throughout the week and temporary staffing has been brought in for support,” said Clinton County Board of Elections Director Shane C. Breckel.
Because there was no in-person voting on Primary Election Day in mid-March, an extension of absentee-by-mail voting for the primary election is underway, with all voting for the election ending on Tuesday, April 28. To reiterate, a previous extension date of June 2 is no longer valid.
While this election is primarily all vote-by-mail, limited in-person voting will be available at the BOE office on Tuesday, April 28 from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. for voters eligible to cast a provisional ballot, disabled voters needing assistance with marking their ballot, and voters without a residence who are unable to receive mail delivery.
Due to safety precautions related to the coronavirus, only voters meeting those criteria will be admitted into the Board of Elections office that day for in-person voting.
In order to receive an absentee ballot, voters must first complete and submit an absentee-by-mail ballot application to the Clinton County Board of Elections. The deadline to submit an application for a ballot is noon on Saturday, April 25.
Voters can download applications at VoteOhio.gov or on the Clinton County Board of Elections’ website at www.boe.ohio.gov/clinton/ .
Voters may also create their own application by writing the following bulleted information on a piece of paper, Breckel said.
• List your: full name; date of birth; full registered Clinton County residential address; mailing address (including post office boxes) if different from the registered address; and one of the following forms of voter identification — a valid unexpired driver’s license number, OR the last four digits of your Social Security number, OR a copy of any acceptable form of voter identification.
• Write: “I am a qualified elector and I’m requesting an absentee ballot for the 3/17/2020 Ohio Primary.”
• Specify one of the following party-type ballots you want (choose only one): Democrat; OR Libertarian; OR Republican; OR issues only (not available in all precincts).
• SIGN and DATE with today’s date.
• Send to Board of Elections via U.S. Mail or drop it in the secure Voter Drop Box located outside of the Board office: Clinton County Board of Elections, 111 South Nelson Ave., Suite 4, Wilmington, OH 45177.
Reminder: Voted absentee ballots sent by U.S. Mail must be post marked by Monday, April 27 at the latest. Voters may also use the new outdoors Voter Drop Box outside of the Board of Elections office to drop off their ballot through 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28.
Voters who already voted do not need to request a new ballot. The ballots already received by mail or through early in-person voting will be counted.
If you have questions or need more information, please call the Clinton County Board of Elections at 937-382-3537.
