I formerly ran the absentee department in Summit County, Ohio’s 4th largest County, for almost 3 years. I want to talk about how secure and safe absentee voting is in Ohio.

Any voter in Ohio can request an absentee ballot. They can provide the following personal information on an absentee application: name, address, birthdate, a form of identification (DL #, last 4 social, various others), and a signature.

Once received by the BOE, a Democrat and a Republican would both look at the application to ensure all identifiers matched what we had in our voter database (the voter data server isn’t connected to the internet so that dispels the threat of an online hack).

Once the application is confirmed the ballot would be printed. The ballot stub number is automatically recorded in the system. (This is to ensure the ballot sent out is the ballot received).

Another bipartisan team would package up the ballot to prepare for mailing. They would make sure the ballot is the correct precinct, that the ballot stub matched what was recorded in the system, and triple checking the address to make sure we sent the ballot to correct address.

A third bipartisan team would run packaged ballots through the mail machine and drop off at the post office. Bipartisanship is required by every Board of Elections. There is no conspiracy.

When a ballot is received to the BOE, a bipartisan team checks the identification envelope to ensure that the information provided by the voter is accurate (identification and signature).

Once it’s determined that the voter accurately completed their absentee identification envelope it would be “checked in” and stored in a vault that can only be opened by a Democrat and Republican. It would remain there until the law allows it to be prepared for counting.

These ballots are not tabulated until 7:30pm on Election night. It’s a bipartisan process from start to finish on the part of a BOE. These employees bust their tails to make sure our elections happen and are fair. They need more help, not criticism from the President. END.