NELSONVILLE, Ohio — Dozens of Nelsonville residents who voted this morning were asked to return to the polls because their ballots did not include an issue on abolishing the city charter.
According to an Athens County Board of Elections press release, approximately 90 voters cast misprinted paper ballots that did not include Issue 23, which asked Nelsonville residents if they wanted to abolish the Nelsonville City Charter and return to a statutory form of government.
The issue passed with nearly 71% of the vote on Tuesday, according to unofficial election night results from the Athens County Board of Elections.
The BOE press release stated that the BOE was working contacting those 90 voters by phone to let them know they may vote on Issue 23. The full list of affected voters was made available in the board of elections’s press release.
“Precinct officials discovered the misprint and reported it to our office immediately,” the BOE said in its press release. “Corrective action was taken by having voters use electronic voting machines, which were not affected.”
This year, Nelsonville had only one polling location for its four precincts, located at the Athens County Community Cares Resource Center, 10 W. Washington St., the former location of Fruth’s Pharmacy. Voting began at 6:30 a.m. and concluded at 7:30 p.m.
Wendy Van Sickle, a Nelsonville voter, told the Independent she went to vote shortly before 8 a.m., around the time she believes the issue was discovered.
“There was a phone call going on with one of the volunteers, and they were kind of saying, like, ‘Hold up, wait a second, everyone,’” Van Sickle said.
Debbie Quivey, Athens County Board of Elections director, told the Independent that election officials first noticed a problem shortly before 7:30 a.m., because the machines at the polling location would not tabulate the second page of the affected ballots.
The BOE sent a rover — “someone that goes to all of our precincts and helps with problems like this” — who confirmed the misprint. The last affected ballot was cast at 7:46 a.m.
While poll workers did alert Van Sickle that Issue 23 was not on the ballots that were printed and offered that voters could vote electronically, Van Sickle “had already started … the process with a paper ballot, so I just went with that, since I personally didn’t have a lot of knowledge or strong feelings about Issue 23.”
However, when Van Sickle returned home, she said she researched the issue and determined she did want to vote on it. She returned to the polls around 11 a.m. after she received a call from the board of elections.
The line was long, however, and Van Sickle was told the polling location still did not have correct paper ballots featuring Issue 23, she said.
She returned home, again without voting on the issue, though she said in a Facebook message that she successfully voted on the issue later in the day.
Quivey told the Independent that correct paper ballots were quickly made available at the polling location, for affected voters to use. She acknowledged that there was “a small line” at the polling location, because all voters not initially affected by the issue needed to cast ballots on a single express voting machine.
Affected voters were asked to resubmit the second page of their paper ballot in provisional envelopes for their responses to Issue 23 to be included in official election results that will be released on Nov. 15, Quivey said. Affected voters needed to comply with the state’s voter ID requirements to resubmit the second page of their ballots.
Greg Smith, a former Nelsonville City Council member, petitioner and proponent of Issue 23, described the ballot error as “devastating.”
“We spent thousands of dollars getting this issue on the ballot,” Smith said. “And then when people show up to vote, it’s not there.”
Issue 23 has been at the heart of a legal battle this fall, in which the city argued its charter does not allow an abolishment of itself.
The Fourth District Court of Appeals on Oct. 31 largely upheld the Athens County Court of Common Pleas’ ruling on which process — the Ohio Constitution or charter itself — governs the ballot initiative process in Nelsonville.
The appellate court found that the city must follow its charter — that its articles do indeed outline procedures for the placement of a citizens’ ballot initiative before voters, including the required amount of signatures.
Quivey said the legal contention surrounding the ballot issue is likely what caused the misprint, as the BOE submitted two versions of the ballot to its vendor ahead of the vote. Quivey said the BOE was clear about which ballot to print, however.
The BOE works with ES&S, Election Systems and Software, which prints with Cincinnati-based Graphic Village, Quivey told the Independent. She said she was not sure where the problem originated.
Graphic Village Elections Services Account Manager Tom Cooper declined to comment on the misprints and said questions should be directed to the county.
Katina Granger, Senior Manager of Public Relations with ES&S, told the Independent, “ES&S apologizes for the error and will work to establish further safeguards to ensure ballot printing accuracy.”
“They are a very good vendor,” Quivey said. “I do stand by them as a vendor. Things happen, you know, mistakes happen, but this was a very serious one.”
The BOE did not know about the error before the election, Quivey said, because all the ballots the BOE had seen for Nelsonville before the election were accurate — “the absentees that went out, the ones we print in house, our proofs [from the vendor], everything.” The ballots that went to the polls had been plastic-wrapped “and we were not supposed to open those,” Quivey said.
“We are so shocked about what happened,” Quivey said. “But things happen at election time, and I always say the thing is, how you handle it and how you correct it and do it as quickly as you can for the voters.”
While the polls were still open on Tuesday, Smith told the Independent, “If it ends up we win by more than 100 votes then I guess it wouldn’t make any difference. They should count and certify and then go from there.”
According to the unofficial results, the issue passed by a 472-vote margin.
City Law Director Jonathan Robe told the Independent the ballot misprints could potentially hinder the count and validity of the votes, if a voter were to take legal action against the Ohio Secretary of State.
“It would have to be someone on behalf of a voter who’s been disenfranchised,” Robe said. He noted that as city attorney, he could not pursue the action.
The Ohio Secretary of State’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Smith’s attorney Daniel Klos described the ballot misprints as “an interesting turn of events.” He said he wasn’t sure how the misprints could impact the validity of results.
Speaking while polls were still open, Klos told the Independent, “Let’s just wait until the votes are counted and see what happened.”
“I would think we would first want to see what the votes are” to see whether 100 not voting is going to make a difference,” he added.
“We’ll just wait and see what the people want to do — that was the idea,” Klos said. “You can’t get any better than asking people what they want and letting them make their decision.”
Quivey apologized to voters for the error.
Note: This story was updated after its initial publication to reflect the results of Tuesday’s election and to include an update on Van Sickle’s vote.
Disclosure: Robe completed and filed incorporation papers for Southeast Ohio Independent News, the nonprofit that publishes the Athens County Independent. He also has provided the Independent with legal advice.
Let us know what's happening in your neck of the woods!
Get in touch and share a story!
