Cuyahoga County Commission Asks for Relief From Ban on Central Vote Counting

For the March primary election the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections leased equipment for counting paper ballots at a central location for about $1.5 million, and the approach of central counting worked well in an election that went off relatively smoothly, despite objections that counting paper ballots at the precinct level is better because it gives voters the opportunity to recast their vote if the ballot counting machine detects an overvote or other error.

However, the GOP-controlled General Assembly passed a law in February that prohibits central counting of paper ballots in the general election. This will have the effect of requiring Cuyahoga County to spend $7.3 million to rent ballot counting equipment for every precinct-level voting location. The General Assembly isn't paying for the change, and no other avenue for assisting for the cash-strapped county with the expenditure has materialized.

Yesterday the Cuyahoga County Commission passed a resolution that calls for lifting the ban on Cuyahoga County using a central count optical scan system in November. The resolution notes that the central counting system was a success in March, it is supported by the Board of Elections, that more reliable voting systems aren't available for purchase yet because of delays in federal certification and because the General Assembly declined to waive the requirement that new systems be federally certified, and that all 88 counties currently use central counting for mail-in early vote ballots anyway.

The county commission has forwarded the resolution to Governor Strickland with a letter urging him to support lifting the ban, pointing out that the central count system has been proven to work satisfactorily and that allowing the county to proceed with it in November will mean a very real saving in taxpayer dollars.

This is an enormous issue, and the underpinnings here are frankly all about partisan politics. Ohio Republicans have their sights set on the Secretary of State's office because it is part of the apportionment board for redrawing legislative districts. [And Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted (R-Kettering) is the Republican most likely to run for that office.] Jennifer Brunner (D) has succeeded in supervising relatively problem-free elections so far, but the general election in this presidential year will be her biggest test. Requiring Ohio's largest county to change equipment and procedures once again, and to expend enormous amounts of money without reimbursement from the state, is a classic case of sand-bagging a political foe. In short, they are trying to make the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections' job as difficult as possible, hoping to thereby embarrass the Secretary of State, when what they should be doing is helping in any way they can to ensure a fair and efficient election in the fall.

ADDENDUM: I should point out that I understand the arguments for precinct-level counting of paper ballots -- yes, it would be great to have a system where certain kinds of voting errors can be corrected on the spot, and hopefully precinct-level counting will become the norm in Cuyahoga County and elsewhere. However, central counting is adequate as along as enough effort is made regarding educating voters and training staff to minimize voting errors, and given the hurdles involved in changing to a central count system by November (the delays that have occurred in certifying new vote counting equipment that the board would prefer to ultimately acquire, the short time frame between now and November for changing procedures and retraining personnel, and the enormous unfunded expenditure) and the relative success of the primary election under a central-count system, I strongly believe that the current set-up the better alternative for November.

UPDATE: Just for the record, Mercer and Van Wert counties asked to be relieved from the ban on central counting last month, based on the expense of changing and the success of central counting in the primary, and the bipartisan Cuyahoga County Board of Elections (as distinguished from the county commission) asked the Secretary of State to approach the General Assembly about lifting the ban last month as well.