Montgomery County Board of Elections Director Jeff Rezabek said Tuesday that so far, three previous voting sites have declined to serve as polling locations in August, saying they are unable to work around short-notice election schedules.
Rezabek said more than half of the polling sites from the previous election have been secured for August, adding that he expects more confirmations in the coming days.
Voters whose polling location will change Aug. 8 will receive postcards in the mail alerting them of the location change, Rezabek said. He added that some of those changes may be permanent to avoid repetitive rotating of voter polling sites.
While he’s not concerned about finding replacement polling sites in time, Rezabek does have concerns about enlisting enough poll workers ahead of the impending election.
A total of 1,500 to 1,600 poll workers will be needed to cover the 381-precinct county, which includes one supervisor at each of the 144 polling locations.
“Each side (Republican and Democrat) is responsible for enlisting 70 or so workers,” he said. “The supervisors are there, and now we just need the regular workers.”
Rezabek said Tuesday the department began planning for August’s special election as soon as the news broke, sending out calls to polling sites and previous poll supervisors, hoping the organizations and volunteers who helped the May election run so smoothly in Montgomery County are available and willing to do so again, just three months later.
The Board of Elections met Tuesday, discussing both certification of May 2 election results — set to take place Wednesday afternoon — and details regarding this summer’s pop-up election, which was only officially set last week when the Ohio Legislature passed legislation seeking a change in how amendments are added to the state’s constitution.
Rezabek confirmed that the August special election will involve just the one ballot measure. July 10 will be the last day to register to vote in the August election, and Tuesday, Aug. 1 is the last day to request an absentee ballot. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Aug. 7.
Early voting will begin Tuesday, July 11, and will end Sunday, Aug. 6. For specific times, visit the BOE website, at montgomery.boe.ohio.gov.
No on-site voting will be held the day before the election (Aug. 7), in accordance with House Bill 458, which allows boards of elections one day to process early voting ballots before opening the polls again on election day, Aug. 8.
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