Election process reverting to paper

PERKINS TWP. — After receiving a directive from the Ohio Secretary of State, the Erie County elections board reverted to paper pollbooks for next month's election. Paper pollbooks will replace their electronic counterparts, commonly referred to as poll pads, first debuting for Erie County-based elections in 2017 and largely in use for local elections since then. Pollbooks and/or poll pads offer election officials the ability to review, verify and/or maintain voter registration information for an election. They are not used to actually cast ballots. "The state directive comes after a potential security risk was identified in Perry County on a poll pad from the same vendor," according to a county elections board statement. "While there have been no security incidents with the poll pads in Erie County, the Ohio Secretary of State is asking counties to use an abundance of caution by switching to paper." Election Day will occur on May 6. In order to avoid delays, local elections board officials said people can vote early, in-person, at the elections board office until Sunday, May 4. It can be found on the first floor of the Erie County Services Center, 2900 Columbus Ave., Sandusky. Voters can also request a ballot by mail until Tuesday, April 29. "The switch does not pose large operational challenges," Erie County elections board director Alex Jones said. "We always have paper pollbooks ready to serve as backups in case we need them," Jones said. "Last November, we lost power for a brief period of time at a polling place, and the signature judges followed their training and utilized the paper backups. Many of our poll workers have served long enough that they remember utilizing paper pollbooks as the primary option, so this isn't a huge deal for them." Jones believes this is a one-time deal. People can expect electronic pollbooks to return later this year, including for November's election. Local voters can visit boe.ohio.gov/erie or facebook.com and search for "Erie County, Ohio Board of Elections" for more information. What's on the ballot? There's only a handful of races locals can vote on in May's election: • For all residents — a state issue to fund public infrastructure capital improvements by permitting the issuance of general obligation bonds • For Bellevue/Groton Township residents — various races for Bellevue government positions, including council president and treasurer; Only one at-large council seat is contested as four people seek three spots. • For Bellevue/Groton Township residents — a 10-year renewal income tax issue for Bellevue Schools • For Bay View residents — an additional tax levy to maintain current operations for the police department; If approved, the owner of a $100,000 home can expect to pay $140 a year for five years. • For Vermilion city, Vermilion Township and Florence Township residents — a 30-year issue to issue bonds for Vermilion Schools to improve district buildings and facilities; If approved, the owner of a $100,000 home can expect to pay $137 a year.