The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections recently moved about a mile away from their former location on Euclid Avenue near E. 30th Street, to new digs at 1803 Superior Ave. (the former Plain Dealer building). And, since Oct. 7 is the first day of early in-person voting, they want to make sure you’re aware of the change. Election day is Nov. 4.
According to a news release, Cuyahoga County has nearly 900,000 registered voters. Only 1,505 (0.1%) residents have voted at the board’s new facility.
During a press conference this week, Tony Perlatti, director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, noted that Ohio provides three primary ways for individuals to vote: in person at the polls, early in person at the board of elections and by mail. Odd-year elections are always a challenge to get people out to vote; some don’t see the more locally-focused elections as important.
“Everyone gets excited for the even-year elections,” Perlatti said. “These odd elections are just as important as the even-year elections, but just in a different way. There are 559 candidates who will be on the ballot. Some people fail to see the importance of local offices and school boards so they don’t bother voting. Also, a lot of voter participation is driven by campaigning. Candidates for local offices generally don’t have the money to pay for saturation campaign ads that bring awareness to the candidates and issues. There are 52 issues that voters will be deciding on again across the county. Not every voter gets those issues, but each one of those items is extremely important to those communities in which individuals live. These are the things that impact them on a day-to-day basis.”
The amenities at the current location are a definite upgrade from the previous site. The old location had very limited on-site parking. A patchwork of parking lots had to be secured and some lots were a few blocks away from the building. Now there is ample parking on-site.
Visitors are asked to enter the parking lot at the E.18th Street and Rockwell Avenue door. That lot can accommodate over 100 cars. Once you enter the building by the circular drive, the 4,000 square feet voting space is to the right.
“This building is brighter,” Perlatti said. “It’s easy access. There’s a voting parking lot that is designated for voters to be close to the door. We want people to take advantage of that opportunity.”
This year, there will only be a single-sheet ballot, so voters only have one valid sheet to vote on. The process will be much quicker, which should get people in and out faster.
Voting by mail is currently open. It’s now a two-part process starting with the voter submitting a vote-by-mail application to the board. Once the application is received, workers check the name, address, date of birth, a form of ID, the last four of your social security number or your driver’s license, or state ID number, and your signature. If all those things match what the board has in the voter registration database, you will be sent a ballot. It’s the same ballot you would see if you went to the polls or came and voted early in person. Voters still have three weeks to get an application in. You can get one from the website, print one off at home, fill it out, and mail it back, or you can request to have one mailed.
Blanche Gilliam, a resident of Cleveland, was dodging raindrops as she made her way into the building to vote on Monday.
“I’ve been doing early voting since the first time Obama ran for president,” she said. “This form of voting works better for me because of my job, and I work the polls on election day. I started doing that when I was 19 years old. I’m thankful the board allows voters to do this.”
Although there’s still time to get your ballot mailed back to the board, many may be feeling anxious about their vote not being counted. Officials want those voters to be reassured.
“Our dropbox is still available,” Perlatti said. “What’s great is you can come down the E.18th or E. 21st streets to get access to the drop box. Preferably, you come off the 21st because that’s the side that the shoot is to put your ballet into the box. It’s secure and it’s under security surveillance. Only the board of elections employees, bipartisan teams, can go into that box and retrieve those ballots.”
Recently, the city of Cleveland reduced its wards from 17 to 15. If you live in the city, there’s a map on the board’s website to verify your location.
According to Perlatti, the city of Cleveland still uses 17 wards for day-to-day business operations, and will continue to do so the remainder of the year. When it comes to election purposes, you vote based on what the new configuration of wards will be. The candidates who appear on the ballot, who are running for city council, are running for the new boundaries of those wards, he said.
To reach the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections by phone: 216-443-8683.
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