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LISBON -- Two voters whose ballots were among the provisionals rejected as ineligible addressed Columbiana County Board of Elections board members Friday, questioning why their votes won't count.
"I thought I was doing my due diligence," Kenneth Walls said.
He gave a valid license and identification, he said they know he's a real person since he's there and said he registered to vote at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles before the election.
"You weren't registered anywhere in the state of Ohio," Deputy Director Niki Wilkinson said, noting that a voter must be registered 30 days prior to the election.
The deadline was Oct. 5 and Walls missed it by just a few days. David Moreno missed the deadline by a lot more time, just moving to the county on Nov. 1 from out of state. The election was Nov. 3.
"There has to be an exception made," Moreno said, saying his right to vote was being taken away "simply because of when I moved."
"We want everyone to vote, but we have to abide by the law," Board Chairman David Johnson said.
In Ohio, a potential voter must be registered 30 days prior to the election, no exceptions.
"I will be doing whatever it takes to make sure that changes," Moreno said.
He's planning to contact the Secretary of State's Office, state Sen. Al Cutrona and state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel. He said he's not asking for the 30 days to be eliminated but to provide an exception for someone who moves to Ohio within that 30 days prior to the election and allowing their provisional ballot to count.
He said he was told the process, that he could vote by a provisional ballot, but said he wasn't told it wouldn't count. He questioned why he was allowed to vote in the first place, but Wilkinson said they are instructed by the state to let a voter vote provisionally if there's a question about their registration or identification, then after the election, staff members check their information.
Both Wilkinson and Director Kim Fusco said when they're checking the provisional ballots, they check first to see if a person is registered to vote. If they moved from another Ohio county, they also check to see if they already voted in that county.
Fusco said the process is necessary to ensure the accuracy of a voter's right to vote and to ensure there's no fraud.
Moreno, who's a U.S. Army veteran and served with the Ohio Army National Guard, registered to vote at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles on Nov. 1, well past the deadline to register to vote.
Johnson said if the board allowed his ballot to be counted, it would be considered election fraud.
"We appreciate your passion," Fusco said to both voters.
Since they have filled out the voter registration forms and tried to vote provisionally, they'll both be able to vote in the next election and have their votes count. Fusco said cards will be sent to them and anyone else with a provisional ballot with their polling place location and anyone can also check their voter registration on the board's website at columbiana.boe.ohio.gov and click on the Am I Registered link.
Wilkinson told both men to wait about a month to check because the board is still working on finishing the general election process.
During the meeting, the board accepted 336 eligible provisional ballots to be included in the official canvass. The majority of the provisional ballots were for voters who had moved, there were name changes and a few voted in the wrong precinct but the correct polling location.
The board also voted to reject 103 provisional ballots determined to be ineligible, with 52 not registered anywhere in the state, 14 voting in the wrong precinct and polling location, one failing to sign the envelope, 31 failing to provide identification, two with the ballot missing from the envelope and three who already voted. If the ones who voted in the wrong precinct had been at the right polling place, their votes would have counted.
"You have to show up at the polling place where you're registered to vote," Johnson said.
In the case where the voter failed to sign the envelope, they were told they could come to the Board of Elections office to sign during the cure period, which is the four-day period ofter the election, but they didn't. That was the same situation for the voters who didn't have ID. They had the opportunity to provide a valid ID at the Board of Elections office during the cure period and 31 of them didn't, but there were just as many who did. The ones who produced their ID had their votes count.
For the three who already voted, two of them had voted at the election board office during early voting, then showed up at their polling location and tried to vote again. The second ballot doesn't count. The third one voted and then realized they didn't vote the back page. If a person has already cast their ballot, they can't vote again and have it count.
The board rejected 28 absentee ballots, with 17 arriving too late, five which were undeliverable, two with no ID envelope which is required and one with no signature, which is also required. Two ballots were rejected because the voter registration had been cancelled. For one absentee ballot, the person was deceased. While still alive, they had requested an absentee ballot, which was mailed to them, but then they died and the ballot was sent back unvoted. The person did not vote.
The board will meet at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 24 to certify the official result of the general election and decide on a date and time for the required audit of results. The audit requires a portion of selected races to be counted by hand to make sure they match up with the machine. The two races selected by the state include the U.S. Senate race and the Attorney General race. The board will have to select a third race. Since there's no countywide race, they can choose either the state issue or another state candidate race to count.