COLUMBUS, Ohio — With just over two weeks to go until the November 3 election, Ohio Secretary of State addressed the topics of absentee ballots, voter fraud, reporting of results and much more in a Zoom conversation with members of the Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative on Monday.
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"We are ready to have a free and fair election," LaRose told the group. "We've made great preparations to make sure we're ready for that in the midst of probably the most complex set of scenarios we've ever seen in an election here in the state of Ohio. And when this is over, whether your candidate wins or loses, Ohioans are going to know it was a fair contest where everyone had the opportunity to cast their ballot and one Ohio can be proud of."
LaRose's statement comes amid concerns across the state about delays in absentee ballots being sent out and received. In a statement last week, Cleveland-based printer Midwest Direct addressed delays that caused thousands of Ohioans not to receive their absentee ballots in a timely fashion.
The company says employees have been working 16-hour shifts to catch up with demand, which was much higher than expected. LaRose's office says the company is now caught up and mailing absentee ballots on a same-day basis. For those whose ballots were delayed, you should be receiving them very soon, if you haven't already.
Keep in mind, no matter what county you live in, you don't have to wait for a ballot to arrive in the mail in order to vote. Whether you received your ballot nad haven't mailed it, or are still waiting for it to arrive, a trip to the board of elections before Election Day will cancel out your mail-in ballot.
What that means is you are allowed to change your mind.
And it's not considered a provisional vote by doing that. Your in-person early vote simly cancels the mail-in ballot. That's the case in every county in Ohio.
According to LaRose, as of the first week of early voting and absentee voting, there have been close to 2.5 million absentee ballots requested. In 2016 at that same point, it was just over 1.24 million. "So we've seen a doubling in absentee voting activity and that's a great thing," LaRose added.
LaRose also discussed his election night results plan in the Zoom conversation. One of the changes this year will be the highlighting of the number of outstanding absentee ballots.
"As long as ballots have been received by 7:30 on election night, that's every early vote ballot, every absentee ballot, and every in-person election day ballot, we'll report those as promptly as we can late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning," he stated. "We will never sacrifice the accuracy that we demand for the speed we want and we're going to make sure we report that unofficial number."
LaRose indicated that there will be ballots that continue to arrive days after the election, reminding voters that as long as ballots are postmarked by Monday, November 2, they can be received up to 10 days later by the board of elections.
Other points brought up by Secretary of State LaRose during conference was his statement that there's been no evidence of any kind of widespread voter fraud in Ohio. He added that he has had discussions with law enforcement and city leaders across the state reaffirming that there is not to be any type of intimidation or obstruction of the voting process. "The law is very clear on this. People may not impede or obstruct voters. They may not create an intimidating environment at polling locations," LaRose stated.