COLUMBIANA CO. Absentees can't vote at board of elections

Absentee ballots in Mahoning and Trumbull counties are available.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
The Columbiana County Board of Elections is not permitting people to cast absentee ballots at the board office, even though the Ohio Secretary of State's Office says they should be allowed to vote there.
State law requires election boards in Ohio's 88 counties to allow registered voters to cast absentee ballots at board offices beginning Tuesday, said Carlo LoParo, Ohio Secretary of State's Office spokesman.
The county boards of elections in Mahoning and Trumbull are in compliance and had absentee ballots available for voters Tuesday. But not Columbiana County.
The Ohio Secretary of State's Office is not aware of any other county in the state that won't let absentee voters cast ballots at election boards, LoParo said. But it wouldn't surprise him if other election boards weren't complying.
Election board's response
John Payne, Columbiana election board director, said his office is not to blame for the problem. He points the finger at the Secretary of State's Office and the county's ballot printer, Dayton Legal Blank.
Payne said the state hasn't made a final decision on the validity of Issue 1, which would ban same-sex marriages in Ohio. Also, it was only on Tuesday that the Ohio Secretary of State's office took the presidential candidacy of Ralph Nader off the Ohio ballot.
LoParo responded that the Secretary of State's Office had certified Nader and Issue 1 on Sept. 8 as required under state law. If the number of valid signatures on petitions fall short through challenges, LoParo said, the secretary of state will ask the 88 election boards in Ohio to remove the candidate or the issue from the ballot.
That can be done a variety of ways, including covering or crossing out Nader or Issue 1 on the ballots, he said.
Doing that with the county's absentee ballots would be a huge waste of time, Payne said.
Another problem with the absentee ballots in Columbiana County is they're not at the election board, Payne said.
"Our printer hasn't given us our ballots yet," he said. "It's a busy election year, and Dayton does most of the ballots in the state."
David Keeler, president of Dayton Legal Blank, could not be reached to comment.
Others have ballots
Dayton also did Trumbull's ballots, and had them to the county's board of elections on Friday.
Mahoning County uses Oldfield Graphics, a Youngstown company, to print its absentee ballots, and received them Monday.
Columbiana election board employees are telling people the absentee ballots will be available the second week in October, Payne said. Those requesting ballots at the election board office can leave their address and one will be sent to them, he said.
People can vote absentee by mail or in person at boards of elections in Ohio if they are 62 years of age or older, have a physical disability, or will not be in their home county on election day, LoParo said. In Pennsylvania, the same people are eligible except they have to be 65 or older.
No start date
In Pennsylvania, there isn't a start date for absentee voting at county bureaus of registration and elections, said Brian McDonald, spokesman for the state's Department of State. Those who vote absentee in Pennsylvania must first file a request to vote via absentee ballot, and that must be submitted no later than Oct. 19, McDonald said.
It is up to the individual county bureaus to determine if a person can fill out an absentee form at that office, and then vote on the same day, he said.
The heads of the Mercer and Lawrence county bureaus say they don't have absentee ballots available because Nader's candidacy in Pennsylvania is up in the air.
skolnick@vindy.com