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Elections board move to Oakhill offices delayed
By DAVID SKOLNICK
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County Board of Elections’ move from the Southside Annex to Oakhill Renaissance Place will have to wait until after the Nov. 2 election results are finalized.
Board officials had hoped the space at Oakhill, the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center on Oak Hill Avenue, would be ready by now.
It isn’t, and the board can’t move in the coming weeks because of the general election, said Thomas McCabe, elections board director.
Early voting at the board begins Sept. 28, and the deadline to register for the election is Oct. 4.
“We can’t do a move in a gubernatorial election at this point,” McCabe said.
The plan is to move the election board office out of the annex on Market Street by the end of November or early December, after the results of the election are finalized, he said.
Voting machines and other equipment at the polls will go directly to Oakhill after the Nov. 2 election, McCabe said.
The machines — which have a backup paper ballot system — would only be needed if there is a recount in a race, he said. If there are recounts, board employees would bring the machines to the annex, he said.
The Oakhill location is a better fit for the elections board with larger warehouse space in its basement to store voting equipment, McCabe said. The board office will be located on the first floor of Oakhill near Entry A.
Renovations to Oakhill for the board of elections will cost between $158,000 and $175,000, according to Olsavsky-Jaminet Architects Inc., the firm overseeing the improvements.
The board has called the annex in the Uptown district its home since 1977.
County Administrator George Tablack agrees that waiting until after the election results are certified is the best time to move the board of elections.
“We don’t want to disrupt the election process,” he said.
As for the future of the 53-year-old, 48,072-square-foot annex, county officials haven’t made a decision, Tablack said.
Possibilities include a having a public auction or giving the building to another public entity, but “it’s premature to discuss” what will be done, he said.
The county expects to have the annex building empty by the end of this year.