Bored of Elections

The Summit County Board of Elections is struggling to downsize in the middle of an election year, hardly the time for rational compromise. The process of paring down should have started long ago, after the 2008 presidential election. The board did take some steps in 2009, but the move to cut costs faltered.

This week, the County Council approved a $4.7 million budget for the board for this year, less than it spent four years ago and way below the $9.3 million requested for this year. One of the steps the board will take will directly affect voters: the downsizing of precincts, from 475 to 269. Democrats resisted, but Republicans on the board were able to get their way when Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, broke a tie vote.

Another fight is over whether or where to have an outside location for in-person absentee voting. That’s still being negotiated. In the long-run, the board needs to consider investing in new technology, such as electronic poll books, and implementing more flexible personnel practices, including cross-training. But in the short run, the budget crunch appears likely to impact voters. Bear in mind, Republicans are well aware that restricting access to the polls will hurt Democrats in the fall more than the GOP.

Tagged as: absentee voting, Board of Elections, disenfranchisment, Summit County

This article was written by Steve Hoffman, Steve Hoffman was named an editorial writer for the Akron Beacon Journal in September 2001. He writes a weekly column of political analysis and contributes to the paper’s unsigned editorials and endorsements. Steve spent ten years as politics writer, covering national, state and local elections, including six national political conventions and statewide campaigns for president, the U.S. Senate and governor. He has been with the Beacon Journal for 25 years and held a variety of newsroom reporting and editing assignments and has won national, statewide and local news awards, including Ohio SPJ awards, Associated Press of Ohio awards and Akron Press Club awards. Steve has freelanced for the New York Times and Time, Newsweek and Business Week magazines. He is a guest lecturer on the media and politics at Kent State University and The University of Akron.