WILMINGTON — The Clinton County Board of Elections (BOE) is fielding a lot of phone calls from people wanting to receive an application to vote by mail, said the BOE director.
Moreover, the BOE is already getting a lot of applications turned in, added BOE Director Shane Breckel after a Wednesday board meeting.
Registered voters don’t have to wait until the state of Ohio automatically sends them an application in the U.S. mail, Breckel said. The state will mail out its first wave of absentee vote-by-mail ballot applications around Labor Day, and then mail out a second wave later in September.
But registered voters can download an application now at VoteOhio.Gov or on the Clinton County Board of Elections’ website at www.boe.ohio.gov/clinton/ where an application can be found under “Absentee Information”.
Or you can call the local BOE now at 937-382-3537 and they’ll send an application form to you and after you return the application, they will get you entered so that your ballot is among the first sent out the week of Oct. 6.
Remember, you do not have to have a particular reason to vote via an absentee vote-by-mail ballot. That changed in spring 2006.
“Vote-by-mail has been used in Ohio since 2006 with no problems,” Breckel said.
In his 16 years with the Clinton County BOE, there have been two absentee voters with whom the BOE had to deal with in terms of fraud, he said.
Breckel is asking people who plan to vote by mail to do the process earlier rather than later. The same is true with the early in-person voting that takes place at the BOE offices at 111 South Nelson Avenue in Wilmington.
Early in-person voting will start on Tuesday, Oct. 6, and it will be safer if the turnout is more evenly spread out over time rather than having most people wait until the last week or so, as is normal.
“It will be easier to maintain lines [of voters] here if they’re more spread out in showing up,” noted Breckel.
Local ballot issues certified
In action at the BOE meeting, board members certified seven tax renewal questions for the general election ballot, plus one liquor option issue.
• Jefferson Township. A five-year, 5.25-mills tax renewal to provide fire protection, ambulance, paramedic, or other emergency medical services to benefit Jefferson Township including Midland.
• Village of New Vienna. A five-year, 3.5-mills tax renewal for current expenses to benefit New Vienna.
• Village of New Vienna. A five-year, 5.8-mills tax renewal for police protection, ambulance or emergency medical services to benefit New Vienna.
• Village of Port William. A five-year, 3-mills tax renewal for current expenses to benefit Port William.
• Union Township. A five-year, 6-mills tax renewal to provide fire protection, ambulance, paramedic, or other emergency medical services to benefit Union Township.
• Washington Township. A five-year, 1.5-mills tax renewal for general construction, reconstruction, resurfacing, and repair of streets, roads, and bridges to benefit Washington Township.
• Washington Township. A five-year, 1.6-mills tax renewal to provide fire protection, ambulance, paramedic, or other emergency medical services to benefit Washington Township.
• Sabina A Precinct local liquor option. “Shall the sale of wine and mixed beverages be permitted for sale on Sundays between 10 a.m. and midnight by Ramdev LLC (doing business as Sabina Food Mart), an applicant for a D-6 liquor permit, who is engaged in the business of operating a carryout/grocery store at 149 West Washington Street in Sabina in this precinct?”
New polling locations
In other action, BOE members approved three moves of Election Day polling locations, basically driven by COVID-19 considerationsincluding, for example, the need for bigger spaces where voting booths can be more safely spaced out.
One change involves moving the polling location for Wilmington Precincts 3B and 3C from the Wilmington Presbyterian Church to Cornerstone Baptist Church in the Southridge Subdivision.
A second change will affect voters in the New Vienna and Green Township precincts. Their polling site will be at the community room in the Clinton Highland Fire District & EMS fire station, 676 West Street in New Vienna, rather than at the New Vienna Church of Christ.
The third change is a consolidation affecting voters in Blanchester Precincts A, B and C, as well as Marion Township Precinct. These people formerly voted at the Blanchester Senior Center and the Blanchester Church of Christ. They now will vote at the Blanchester Middle School gymnasium.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
