XENIA — Voters lined up outside of the Greene County Board of Elections Wednesday during the final full week of early voting.
According to BOE Director Llyn McCoy, the total of absentee voters as of 4 p.m. Tuesday was 50,187, with 14,251 voting early in-person.
McCoy said during the board’s business meeting Tuesday night that there are about 980 to 1,000 voters voting early at the BOE in a day, measuring from 4 p.m. to 4 p.m.
“It’s steady. We weren’t quite as busy over the weekend but lines picked up yesterday,” she said.
Voters can expect to wait in line about an hour and 10 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes, she reported. Voters are required to wear masks and maintain social distancing in line.
McCoy told board members that the BOE has received about 400 absentee applications and 51 absentee ballots that were defective, and that all of those voters have been contacted by phone, email and/or letter.
She also said a small subset of about 300 voters who had received a 1-page ballot by mistake were mailed a 2-page ballot with a letter explaining the error.
The board conducted the public logic and accuracy test of the voting equipment during the meeting. McCoy verified that the votes recorded on the machines were accurate and were correctly reflected by the tabulation equipment. She also ran another report between the scanners and tabulators, verifying that the totals combined as they should.
Early in-person voting continues at the Greene County Board of Elections, 551 Ledbetter Road in Xenia, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29 and Friday, Oct. 30; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31; 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2.
Voters can return their absentee ballots by mail if it is postmarked by Monday, Nov. 2 and received by the BOE within 10 days. They can also return their ballot in person in the silver ballot drop box outside of the BOE before 7:30 p.m. on election day.
Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Per health guidance from the secretary of state, election officials must wear facial coverings, maintain six feet of distance, disinfect election equipment and provide hand sanitizer. The BOE will provide masks, gowns, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer to precinct election officials. Voters are also required to maintain social distance and wear facial coverings.
