[Updated: 11/9/20 1:40 pm…We have updated the article to include the portion of the original YouTube video that discusses the paper ballot procedures used by the Elections Board. ]

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At the November 5, 2020 Lake County Commissioners’ meeting, the Lake County Elections Board Director, Mr. Ross McDonald, spoke to the Commissioners about the current election. We have previously complimented Mr. McDonald and the entire department for running a very smooth, effective, safe and secure election.

However, there is one item that bothers us. We are not implying, nor should anyone infer that we believe that any shenanigans are going on at the Board of Elections. We are simply questioning the statewide procedure on handling unread paper ballots.

We sent the following email to Mr. McDonald:

“I was watching the Commissioner meeting where you spoke about the election. At ~42:08 [this mark applies to the original, complete video on YouTube] you mentioned the paper ballots that cannot be read properly by the machine.  You stated that election officials interpret what the voter meant and then alters the ballot so it can be read by the machine.”

“Although there is a Republican and a Democrat official reviewing the ballot and arriving at a consensus, we were wondering if that is the universal procedure used in the State of Ohio?”

Here is Mr. McDonald’s response:

“The answer is yes. If an elections board did not do these sensitive procedures in a bipartisan way, the officials involved would risk (at a minimum) removal from the elections board.”

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We would like to hear from our readers about the procedure being used to change a paper ballot based on the “intent” of the voter. We have created a poll to gauge the readers’ interest in this issue. Your votes are totally anonymous.

Categories: Community Activism, Lake, Uncategorized

Tags: FT