Special primary July 13 for Third District
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
Special primary July 13 for Third District
By BRANDY CHANDLER
The Highland County Press
The Highland County Board of Elections is awaiting a decision on whether or not the county will be permitted to open a voting center for a July 13
Democratic special primary election, rather than open all 31 precincts.
The primary election is necessary after the withdrawal of Dr. Mark A. MacNealy of Vandalia, who won the March 4 Democratic primary election and
would have faced incumbent Republican Mike Turner, of Centerville, in the November general election in the race for Ohio’s Third Congressional
District.
According to the Dayton Daily News, MacNealy informed the Montgomery County Board of Elections – the most populous county in the district, which
includes Highland, Clinton, Warren and Montgomery counties – that he will not be seeking office. MacNealy cited “a change in circumstances” for his
decision to withdraw.
According to the Dayton Daily News, “The state will pay for the special election estimated to cost between $300,000 and $325,000.”
However, according to Steve Witham of the Highland County Board of Elections, the counties have to front the costs of the elections, and will
be reimbursed by the state later. For Highland County, that means the board of elections would have to use $40,000 that has been budgeted for the
general election, Witham said.
It has been proposed that the voting center be held in suite 200 at 1575 North High Street, where the board of elections is located, according to
Witham.
“We have requested to do a voting center here in Hillsboro,” Witham said, “just to have a place that is easy to access, and would make it a lot
more affordable for the county. At first, when we made the request, we were told ‘no.’ Mr. (David) Daniels (86th District representative) is meeting
with the Secretary of State to try to determine what can be done, and they are also trying to rush some legislation through. This was one of the things
in the elections change bill, to make (opening a limited number of precincts) allowable. If nothing changes, we would have to set up all 31
precincts.”
“We had a similar situation in 2006 during the election to replace Stephanie Studebaker,” Witham said. Studebaker, a Democrat, dropped out of a
race against Turner after an alleged domestic violence incident.
“(In the 2006 special primary) we only had 313 people show up to vote,” Witham said.
“It’s a Democratic primary, a lot of people won’t know the (candidate) from Montgomery County, it’s in a middle of the summer, and that really puts
a damper on our turnout.”
The special primary, according to Witham, is only to find the replacement candidate for the congressional race, and no other special races
can be “dovetailed.”
The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office set the July 13 election date, and Witham said the Ohio Revised Code states that if a candidate drops out of a
race after the regular primary election, but before the general election, a special election must be held “as soon as feasibly possible.”
“This is strictly for the congressional race,” Witham said. (Any other races or levies considered for a special election) “could have run Aug. 3.
But that deadline was May 20.”
The cost of the special election is estimated at $40,000, Witham said, which is the same amount budgeted for the general election.
“That’s pretty expensive,” he said.
“The state will reimburse us, but we have to pay out of budget. If it comes out of our funds set aside for the November election, we can tap into
that and hope the (reimbursement) check comes in time for the general election. (If not) we will have to talk to the auditor’s office; maybe they
have some kind of emergency fund if we have to use now the money that should be used in November.”
An estimated $10,000 to $15,000 could be saved if the county is permitted to use a centralized voting center rather than opening all
precincts. In addition to the cost of poll workers and voting machines, a specific number of paper ballots must be printed in the event of a machine
failure or loss of power. If turnout is small, many of those ballots – and dollars – could go to waste. Witham said if the centers are held in
Hillsboro, the office could print the ballots as they are needed.
Candidates have until June 10 to file for candidacy for the primary elections. Thus far, Political consultant Joe Roberts of Kettering, who had
worked for MacNealy during his bid for Congress, has announced he will seek the office. Dayton area business owner David Esrati has also announced that
he will run. The winner of the race will face Turner in November.
The Highland County Board of Elections is awaiting a decision on whether or not the county will be permitted to open a voting center for a July 13 Democratic special primary election, rather than open all 31 precincts.
The primary election is necessary after the withdrawal of Dr. Mark A. MacNealy of Vandalia, who won the March 4 Democratic primary election and would have faced incumbent Republican Mike Turner, of Centerville, in the November general election in the race for Ohio’s Third Congressional District.
According to the Dayton Daily News, MacNealy informed the Montgomery County Board of Elections – the most populous county in the district, which
includes Highland, Clinton, Warren and Montgomery counties – that he will not be seeking office. MacNealy cited “a change in circumstances” for his decision to withdraw.
According to the Dayton Daily News, “The state will pay for the special election estimated to cost between $300,000 and $325,000.”
However, according to Steve Witham of the Highland County Board of Elections, the counties have to front the costs of the elections, and will be reimbursed by the state later. For Highland County, that means the board of elections would have to use $40,000 that has been budgeted for the general election, Witham said.
It has been proposed that the voting center be held in suite 200 at 1575 North High Street, where the board of elections is located, according to Witham.
“We have requested to do a voting center here in Hillsboro,” Witham said, “just to have a place that is easy to access, and would make it a lot more affordable for the county. At first, when we made the request, we were told ‘no.’ Mr. (David) Daniels (86th District representative) is meeting with the Secretary of State to try to determine what can be done, and they are also trying to rush some legislation through. This was one of the things in the elections change bill, to make (opening a limited number of precincts) allowable. If nothing changes, we would have to set up all 31 precincts.
“We had a similar situation in 2006 during the election to replace Stephanie Studebaker,” Witham said. Studebaker, a Democrat, dropped out of a race against Turner after an alleged domestic violence incident.
“We had a similar situation in 2006 during the election to replace Stephanie Studebaker,” Witham said. Studebaker, a Democrat, dropped out of a race against Turner after an alleged domestic violence incident.
“(In the 2006 special primary) we only had 313 people show up to vote,” Witham said. “It’s a Democratic primary, a lot of people won’t know the (candidate) from Montgomery County, it’s in a middle of the summer, and that really puts a damper on our turnout.”
Daniels said he hopes there will be a resolution by next week.
"I have an amendment drafted and dropped a bill (Thursday, May 27) that would require the boards of elections to open four voting centers for this special election in an effort to reduce the costs," Daniels told The Highland County Press. "A similar situation happened four years ago, and it cost the state a little better than $600,000 and voted less than 2 percent of eligible voters registered to vote in the district. I offered this bill in an effort to allow local counties to have to front the money to begin within these difficult economic times to help limit their up-front costs and help the state reduce their costs in this process."
"I have an amendment drafted and dropped a bill (Thursday, May 27) that would require the boards of elections to open four voting centers for this special election in an effort to reduce the costs," Daniels told The Highland County Press. "A similar situation happened four years ago, and it cost the state a little better than $600,000 and voted less than 2 percent of eligible voters registered to vote in the district. I offered this bill in an effort to allow local counties to have to front the money to begin within these difficult economic times to help limit their up-front costs and help the state reduce their costs in this process."
Daniels said that since such a similar situation happened occurred four years ago in the Third District, there is a pattern, and the state needs a way to address it.
"I am hoping we will deal with this in one manner or another by next week," Daniels said. "We only have about two or three more days in session scheduled and this needs to be dealt with in an expedited manner."
The special primary, according to Witham, is only to find the replacement candidate for the congressional race, and no other special races can be “dovetailed.”
The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office set the July 13 election date, and Witham said the Ohio Revised Code states that if a candidate drops out of a race after the regular primary election, but before the general election, a special election must be held “as soon as feasibly possible.”
“This is strictly for the congressional race,” Witham said. (Any other races or levies considered for a special election) “could have run Aug. 3. But that deadline was May 20.”
The cost of the special election is estimated at $40,000, Witham said, which is the same amount budgeted for the general election.
“That’s pretty expensive,” he said.
“The state will reimburse us, but we have to pay out of budget. If it comes out of our funds set aside for the November election, we can tap into that and hope the (reimbursement) check comes in time for the general election. (If not) we will have to talk to the auditor’s office; maybe they have some kind of emergency fund if we have to use now the money that should be used in November.”
An estimated $10,000 to $15,000 could be saved if the county is permitted to use a centralized voting center rather than opening all precincts. In addition to the cost of poll workers and voting machines, a specific number of paper ballots must be printed in the event of a machine failure or loss of power. If turnout is small, many of those ballots – and dollars – could go to waste. Witham said if the centers are held in
Hillsboro, the office could print the ballots as they are needed.
Candidates have until June 10 to file for candidacy for the primary elections. Thus far, Political consultant Joe Roberts of Kettering, who had worked for MacNealy during his bid for Congress, has announced he will seek the office. Dayton area business owner David Esrati has also announced that he will run. The winner of the race will face Turner in November.
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