Trumbull officials adopt polling gear procedure

Six workers will now deliver the machines and equipment one week before an election.

STAFF report

WARREN — Trumbull County elections officials have adopted a procedure for having polling booths and materials transported to polling places one week before the next election.

The procedure is to comply with an Ohio Secretary of State directive banning the county’s former “sleep- over” practice.

The elections board said Tuesday it would use members of its “roving staff” — people assigned on election day to travel to various polling locations to troubleshoot elections problems — to deliver the materials to the polling places.

Elections Director Kelly Pallante said the process will involve three trucks and six workers — one person of each political party in each truck.

Pallante said the practice was patterned after procedures in use in many other counties across the state.

Trumbull County’s elections board was one of 23 across Ohio told Aug. 19 to eliminate a system of allowing presiding judges to pick up voting machines and materials several days before the election and leave them at home before the election.

The directive said the procedure did not sufficiently assure the voters of Ohio that the voting machines were being kept tamper- free, despite their having what Pallante called “tamper-evident seals” on them.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said federal money will reimburse counties for the added cost of their new procedures, which she expects to be about $100,000 statewide. Pallante said the revised policy will now go to Brunner’s office for approval.

Because of a variety of policies being given to elections boards in recent months, the Trumbull elections board will have an additional meeting at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 16 to discuss any additional elections changes that may need attention, Pallante said.