Electronic pollbooks will be back in use in 47 Ohio counties to check in voters for the Nov. 4 election.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office halted the use of an iPad-based system by KNOWiNK shortly before the May primary when Perry County elections workers found irregularities with one of the machines during pre-election testing.
An investigation by the secretary of state’s cybersecurity team, the FBI and Apple concluded that static electricity was to blame, said Tess Wigginton, deputy director of the Licking County Board of Elections, which is one of the counties that reverted back to paper pollbooks to check in voters during the May election.
“It was not a security breach,” Wigginton said. “There was no evidence of any type of intentional anything.”
She said the devices have been improved to make them even more secure and to avoid any sort of irregularities in the future.
The devices are used only to check in voters and are not connected to voting machines or the internet during an election.
Elections boards across the state are preparing for the Nov. 4 election and early voting, which begins on Oct. 7. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 6, and that can be done at the board of elections office in the County Administration Building at 20 S. 2nd Street.
To register to vote, Ohio residents will need a driver’s license or Ohio identification card number with their name, address and date of birth, and they will need the last four digits of their Social Security number. Details are available on the secretary of state’s website.
Early voting will be available at the election board office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays through Oct. 24, except on Monday, Oct. 13, which is a federal holiday. Early voting hours will be extended after that. Here are the hours:
Monday, Oct. 27: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 28: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 29 through Friday, Oct. 31: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 1: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 2: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
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Elections Board Director Brian Mead said he expects up to 1,500 new registrations before the election and about 2,500 people to vote early.
Wigginton said the Licking County Elections Board has 381 people lined up to be poll workers on Nov. 4. “We would love to have 402,” she said, adding that she expects they will get that many to staff the 27 polling locations in the county.
Mead noted that one polling location is moving for this election – and only for this election. The three Granville Village precincts that typically vote at First Presbyterian Church will vote across N. Main Street at Centenary United Methodist Church because of renovation work being done at the Presbyterian church.
Wigginton said all poll workers – experienced and new – will receive training during classes being held between Oct. 1 and Oct. 29.
“We’re required to train all poll workers every couple of elections,” she said. “We didn’t have the electronic pollbooks last time, so it seemed like a good time to do training.”
The next board meeting is at 6:15 a.m. on Nov. 4 to allow the board to officially open the polls on Election Day.
Alan Miller writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.