IN THE HOMESTRETCH

By David Skolnick

This is the first presidential election with no-fault absentee voting in Ohio.

Election officials in the Mahoning Valley are expecting a large majority of registered voters to cast ballots for this election, thanks, in part, to no-fault early voting.

The boldest prediction comes from Kim Meeks, director of the Columbiana County Board of Elections.

She initially predicted 100 percent turnout. When told that would be nearly impossible, she backed off and predicted at least 90 percent.

“I truly believe it will be in the 90s,” Meeks said. “I’m totally amazed at the interest in this election.”

During the 2004 election, 64 percent of registered voters cast ballots in Columbiana County, so it’s going to take a huge increase from four years ago to meet Meeks’ projection.

Election boards in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana are expecting a record number of people to take advantage of early voting through the mail or at the election boards.

This is the first presidential election in Ohio with no-fault absentee voting.

Before the law went into effect close to three years ago, a voter needed an excuse to vote absentee in Ohio.

As of Tuesday, about 4,000 have voted through the mail in Columbiana County. About 2,300 others have received their requested absentee ballots but hadn’t returned them yet.

Also, about 600 Columbiana County residents have voted at the elections board office, Meeks said.

About 5,500 absentee votes were counted in Columbiana County in 2004, the current record.

The projected turnout in Mahoning County is 78 percent to 80 percent, said Joyce Kale-Pesta, the county board’s deputy director.

That would be a big increase from 2004, which saw Mahoning with 67 percent turnout.

But Kale-Pesta could be correct because the number of registered voters in Mahoning County dropped by almost 17,000 this year from 2004.

The sharp decline in registered voters in Mahoning was the result of a large “purge of inactive voters” in 2005, said Robert Wasko, its elections board chairman.

Those who didn’t vote in two consecutive presidential elections are sent letters by county boards of elections in Ohio asking if they want to remain registered.

If they don’t respond, boards of elections remove them from the voter rolls, said Jeff Ortega, spokesman for the Ohio secretary of state’s office.

About 18,000 people were removed in 2005 by the Mahoning board.

In Mahoning, about 25,000 people voted absentee through the mail for this election, and an additional 10,000 expected to do so.

Also, about 8,000 have come to the elections board to vote there as of Tuesday, she said.

The old absentee record was about 18,000 in 2004.

It’s the same trend in Trumbull County with about 16,000 already voting absentee through the mail and an additional 5,000 expected to do so, said Kelly Pallante, its elections board director.

Also, more than 7,000 people have voted at the board office, she said.

Trumbull’s old record was also reached in 2004 with about 12,000.

Pallante predicts turnout for this election to be 85 percent to 90 percent, far more than the 78 percent turnout in Trumbull in 2004.

“Early voting has made it easier for people to vote,” she said. “I wish this interest would carry through to local elections” in odd years.

Pennsylvania doesn’t have no-fault absentee voting.

Even so, Mercer County has received about 2,500 absentee ballots, a very high number for the county, said Jeff Greenburg, director of Mercer County’s Bureau of Registration and Elections.

It’s difficult to remove those who don’t vote in the state from voter rolls, he said.

If a person doesn’t vote for at least five years, county bureaus of registration and elections must send a letter informing that person that he/she hasn’t voted, Greenburg said.

Even if that person doesn’t respond, counties must keep those people on the voter rolls for two more even-year elections, he said.

That means those who haven’t voted since 2003 won’t be removed as registered voters until after the 2010 election, Greenburg said.

There are about 10,000 “inactive” voters registered in Mercer County, he said.

If those 10,000 are taken out of the equation, Greenburg said turnout in his county would be about 70 percent. Turnout was 66 percent in 2004.

With those 10,000 included, turnout should be in the mid- to high 50 percent, he said.

Lawrence County election officials couldn’t be reached to comment.