Report highlights small flaws in primary voting

A uniform poll worker training system would help avoid most of the problems.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Poll workers failed to consistently follow election procedures when dealing with the hordes of voters who switched political parties during Ohio’s March primary election, according to a report issued Wednesday.

Poll workers also were confused over what kinds of identification voters must produce at the polls, according to the report by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

Despite the problems, Brunner said the election went smoother than the previous presidential primary in 2004.

“Overall, the county boards of elections performed exceedingly well,” Brunner said in the report.

Many problems can be fixed with a more organized, uniform poll worker training system, she said.

Two problems involving poll worker errors centered on the phenomenon of voters who switched parties to vote in a historic presidential election.

In some cases, poll workers gave voters who asked to switch sides a provisional ballot when they should have given them a form requiring them to sign off on their allegiance to that party. In other cases, poll workers gave crossover voters regular ballots, but didn’t give them the required form.

Brunner said in the report that the requirement of making voters who want to switch parties complete the form was followed inconsistently throughout the state, which made a comprehensive tally of the number of voters who switched sides impossible.

Data available from 85 out of 88 counties showed that about 216,000 voters switched sides in the March primary, in which a total of 3.6 million Ohioans voted — a record for a primary. About four out of every five crossover voters previously voted Republican but asked for a Democratic ballot this year.

Brunner called for more uniform poll worker training, and said in the report that a manual is being developed for use by poll workers. The state also has received funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts to set up an online poll worker training system.

A voluntary audit was conducted in 11 counties following the official canvass of results. Four counties — Athens, Belmont, Miami and Morgan — had to change their official results of the presidential races by a handful of votes based on the audit. Brunner said in the report she wants to make those audits mandatory for all counties.

The audit involved making sure the number of votes cast matched the number of voters who showed up at the polls, checking the tabulations made by touch-screen machines to make sure they matched the recordings made by a paper trail, and ensuring that paper ballots were marked correctly and read accurately by scanning machines.

“The audits were intended to reinforce voter confidence in the results,” said Brunner spokesman Jeff Ortega.

Other problems included faulty voter registration records and ongoing confusion over the types of identification voters are permitted to show to prove who they are.

The statewide voter registration database, which is dependent on updates on voters and polling places provided by the county boards of elections, was not 100 percent accurate, the report noted.

Brunner said she had issued a directive to counties before the election that outlined the voter identification requirements, but many poll workers were still confused about which forms of identification were allowed.

Brunner said she will continue pressing the Legislature for two policies she feels will make elections more efficient: expanding options for early voting and allowing elections to be conducted by mail. She wants each board of elections to provide voters with four locations where they can vote up to 35 days before the election.

A spokeswoman for House Speaker Jon Husted, a Republican from Kettering, said there was not enough support for the proposals among county boards and within the Legislature.

“At this point in time with about 145 days before the election, it would really be best for the secretary of state to implement current law and ensure a safe and fair election,” Karen Stivers said.