Columbiana officials review complaint over two voters

By D.A. Wilkinson

Ohio law allows only permanent residents to vote.

LISBON — The Columbiana County Prosecutor’s office is reviewing a Republican challenge to two people affiliated with the Barack Obama campaign who moved to the county and voted.

Tad Herold, an assistant county prosecutor, said Wednesday he was working on the complaint.

Late Tuesday, Nancy Cope, the secretary of the county Republican Party, sent the notice of her complaint to the county board of elections.

Cope said Peter Grant Jr. of Washington state, and Molly Thompson, formerly of North Carolina, moved to Ohio.

Cope said the two registered to vote Sept. 30 and voted that day.

Cope said the pair gave the address of the home of a county poll worker who also is a presiding judge of a county precinct.

Ohio law says that people who register must live in the state, and they cannot vote if they are only living in the state temporarily.

The two Democratic members of the elections board — Larry Bowersock and Patty Colian — said they would seek a legal opinion on the registration, as did Kim Meek, the board director.

David Johnson, chairman of the county Republican Party, and Republican Atty. Jerry Ward are the other board members.

Herold said, “We’re trying to figure out what to do.”

Meek said that so far, some 1,046 people have cast votes at the elections board.

All of the in-office ballots, including the two in question, are in envelopes sealed by the voter, she said.

Any questionable ballots are red-flagged and put aside. They are then examined after the election.

People are voting in advance in record numbers, Meek said, adding that number “is changing every minute.”

More than 7,000 absentee ballots also have been given out.

Meek said that she had planned to begin steps this weekend to prepare those votes to be counted.

wilkinson@vindy.com