As Ohio’s top election official promotes the wrong election date, Hamilton County’s early in-person voting numbers tip over 20,000.
At 8:26 p.m. on Aug. 1, an email from Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office was sent to potential poll workers promoting the Aug. 8 special election. Except, the date for the high-stakes election that could cement abortion rights for Ohioans, was wrong.
“Next Tuesday, August 2nd, is the election!” reads the subject line of an email informing subscribers there may be a need for poll workers in their county. The email also reminds recipients to vote, but the only reference to election day was the incorrect Aug. 2 date in the subject line.
The email went uncorrected for approximately 45 minutes before the official info@ohiosos.com email issued a correction.
“CORRECTION: The election date in the previous email subject line was incorrect. The date of the August special election is August 8. We regret the error,” the email reads.
Rob Nichols, a spokesperson for LaRose’s office, told CityBeat the email was created using the wrong template.
“We regret that an email to poll workers using an old template was sent out this evening before final review and approval,” Nichols said. “A corrected email was sent immediately. The date of the August special election is, of course, Tuesday, August 8. We sincerely apologize for the error.”
The Aug. 2 date referenced in the wrong template may well be a holdover from last year’s August election, when Ohioans voted on state House and Senate primaries.
While the error may seem innocuous, LaRose, who holds a seat that is supposed to be non-partisan, has been leading the Republican’s crusade to pass Issue 1 on Aug. 8.
Issue 1 would make it harder for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution by raising the threshold from 50% to 60%. More specifically, LaRose has repeatedly admitted that Republicans want to prevent voters from amending the constitution in order to make it harder for Ohioans to legalize abortion in November.
As of July 31, Hamilton County’s early voter numbers have tipped over 20,000 in-person votes, smashing turnout expectations. So far, 9,000 of those votes were cast by registered Democrats, 2,877 were from Republicans, and 8,688 were categorized as unaffiliated, according to the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
When and how to vote
Early voting for Hamilton County residents has started and is taking place in one location only, the Board office: 4700 Smith Road in Norwood. All absentee ballot applications must be turned in by Aug. 1. Election day is Aug. 8, and the polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Absentee ballots are due by close of polls.
A controversial new law requires voters to present a valid ID to vote in person in Hamilton County. Acceptable forms of ID include:
- Ohio driver’s license
- State of Ohio ID card
- Interim ID form issued by the Ohio BMV
- U.S. passport or passport card
- U.S. military ID card
- Ohio National Guard ID card
- US Department of Veterans Affairs ID card
All photo IDs must have the following:
- An expiration date that has not passed
- A photograph of the voter
- The voter’s name, which must substantially conform to the voter’s name as it appears in the poll list or in the poll book.
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This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 8, 2023.