Cuyahoga County pushes vote-by-mail to trim problems

CLEVELAND (AP) — The often-troubled elections board in Ohio’s most populous county is renewing its push for vote-by-mail to reduce election day problems.

The Cuyahoga County elections board voted today to spend $83,000 to process absentee ballot applications to be sent to all voters for the Nov. 3 election. The board in Cleveland started the practice in recent years as it struggled to deal with problems including poorly trained, absent or late poll workers.

The effort is paying off. Forty percent of county voters cast early or mail ballots in November. A record 59 percent voted by mail in the May primary, which has more than 1 million registered voters.

A record percentage of U.S. voters cast early or mail ballots in the November election.