Officials want reassurance ballots will be delivered on time
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (September 10, 2024) – Tuscarawas County Board of Elections officials are getting ready for the fall election. They want reassurance that the United States Post Office is ready, too.
Tuscarawas County Board of Elections Director Gail Garbrandt says there have been issues with absentee ballots getting delivered on time. She says several ballots took four weeks to get from Dover to the Board of Elections office in New Philadelphia during recent elections. She says with a large turnout expected, officials want to make sure that doesn’t happen this time.
The Board had hoped to meet with a Post Office liaison Monday, but that didn’t take place. Garbrandt says the liaison mistakenly deleted the meeting from her schedule. It’s now scheduled for Sept. 23.
Garbrandt says otherwise, things are moving smoothly toward early voting that starts Oct. 8 and Election Day on Nov. 5. Ballots for military families and overseas voters go out Sept. 20.
Officials proofread the ballot Monday. Garbrandt said voters can inspect it on the Tuscarawas County Board of Elections website starting Tuesday afternoon.
Garbrandt says so far, the Board of Elections has received about 6,000 absentee ballot requests. That’s less than half of what she is expecting.