The second day of early voting activity at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in Cleveland
Tribune News Service
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Citing Ohioans flubbing their own signature or mixing up “today’s date” with their “date of birth,” election officials in Ohio have already rejected thousands of absentee ballot applications.
Such rejections aren’t final, and county board of elections officials say they work with people to fix whatever errors appeared on their application forms. But several had a message to share: proofread, proofread, proofread.
“Take a deep breath and take your time,” said Mike West, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. “And write your signature carefully.”
In the county, about 158,000 people have requested absentee ballots as of Thursday. Nearly 9,000 have been rejected, which West said is a lower error rate than 2020. About 3,700 voters either failed to provide or listed the wrong date of birth. However, more than 4,000 who made mistakes on their form have since corrected them.
In Summit County, 1,246 requests are still considered “problem applications” as of Thursday, a number that rises and falls as applications are fixed, according to county elections director Lance Reed. About 1 in 3 of the problematic applications have an error related to the listed date of birth.
A slightly smaller share have problems with the signature. Reed said the voter gets the benefit of the doubt and the signature review isn’t stringent. Violations usually trace back to voters leaving the form blank, using print instead of cursive or vice versa, or signing under a newly assumed name after a marriage.
“When people are submitting, take an extra five to 10 seconds to review the application one more time,” he said, adding that a quick edit will save all parties some time and hassle.
In Franklin County, Ohio’s largest, there are about 1,600 absentee ballots on hold due to missing information, according to Aaron Sellers, a spokesman for the county board of elections.
“Top reason for absentee holds – no signature, no date, no Social Security number or driver’s license number, no birthdate,” he said. “Probably similar reasons to other boards in Ohio.”
To vote early, Ohioans must send an accurate and completed absentee ballot request form to their county elections board by Oct. 29. That ballot can be returned by mail or in person. If returned by mail, it must be postmarked by the day before elections day to count. They can vote in person if those forms are rejected.
