More GOP ballots were needed at about 65 precincts

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Board of Elections printed and sent about 6,000 additional Republican ballots Tuesday to about 65 precincts.

“We didn’t want to run out,” said Tom McCabe, deputy director of the board of elections.

The county has 212 precincts.

The board initially had 42,000 Republican ballots printed, which is about 200 percent more than the 14,663 Republicans that were registered in the county before Tuesday.

The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office recommended printing 20 percent more ballots than the number of registered Republicans before this primary.

But given the heavy turnout of absentee voters changing from their registered party, the board saw a need for many more Republican ballots, McCabe explained.

Fifty-five percent of the absentee GOP primary ballot vote consisted of crossover Democrats or independents, he said.

The 6,000 extra ballots were printed Tuesday at the board of elections and City Printing of Youngstown.

At no time did any precinct run out of Republican ballots, but one Springfield Township precinct had a mere 10 Republican ballots left as of 7 p.m., as an additional 50 Republican ballots were delivered, McCabe said. The polls closed at 7:30 p.m.

“We had more people voting Republican ballots than we had registered Republicans by noon,” McCabe said. “We were keeping track of it all day.”

Supplies of GOP ballots were running low all over the county, including in Youngstown, Campbell, and Canfield, and in Springfield, Beaver, Goshen, and Ellsworth townships, he added.

Democratic and independent crossovers to the Republican primary are attributable to people specifically wanting to support Donald Trump or Gov. John Kasich for president, and to Hillary Clinton supporters wanting to vote for Trump because they believe it would be easier for Clinton to beat him this fall than for her to beat other potential Republican nominees, said Mark Munroe, county Republican chairman and a county elections board member.

There was no danger of a Democratic ballot shortage Tuesday, McCabe said.

There are 161,009 registered voters in Mahoning County, of whom 40,958 were registered Democrats and 14,663 were registered Republicans before Tuesday’s primary. The rest were independents, with tiny numbers listed as Libertarians or Socialists.