SATURDAY- Yesterday Mandy (not her real name) went to pick up her packet to prepare for her Voting Location Manager role on Election Day.
But she wasn’t on the list.
This is the third time Mandy has served the role of Voting Location Manager in her county. She always goes and picks up her packet so she can review it over the weekend to make sure she is prepared to do her job well.
Upon inquiry, Mandy discovered that she was not the only one missing on the list. Other Republican Polling Election Officials (PEO) were also missing. The Board of Elections was scrambling to find Republican PEOs.
According to Ohio law, most PEO positions must be filled by a bipartisan team-typically a 50/50 Republican/Democrate combination.
This is not the first concerning report OPS received concerning PEOs being removed from the list.
On November 1st, OPS received a report that a PEO which was asked to work by the County, and has worked the polls before, was then contacted and told she could not work. The basis for the denial was a letter she had written to the Secretary of State early in 2021 expressing concern about the security of election machines.
It is unclear who made the decision that she could not work, however, the decision was backed up by the Board of Elections. It is extremely concerning that a letter by a concerned citizen made it’s way from the SoS office to a BOE and was used as basis to deny a citizen her right to participate in the election process.
Ohio law does not list one’s concerns or beliefs as criteria for disqualifying an elector to serve as a PEO. You can read the law regarding PEOs here.
CALL TO ACTION
OPS is asking electors to contact their BOEs as soon as possible and ask them if there has been any change in the PEO list. BOEs may be unaware of this change.
Please report any concerns to OPS here. It is also imperative that you report your concerns to your BOE (here) and to the Secretary of State by calling (877) 767-6446.
OPS has not received any reports of Democrats being denied the position of PEO.