Voting officials predict high turnout in contested city races
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (May 1, 2023) – Tuscarawas County’s elections director is expecting a big turnout among voters in Dover and Uhrichsville tomorrow.
Gail Garbrandt says they ordered extra ballots anticipating the primary showdowns in those two cities will drive a lot of people to the polls.
“Uhrichsville, of course, you have on the Democratic ballot a contested race for mayor; and in Dover, you have on the Democratic ballot a contested race for law director, and on the Republican ballot, you have a contested race for mayor.”
The only polling locations in Tuscarawas County that are open tomorrow are in those two cities and the communities with tax issues or liquor options on the ballot. That’s all of Strasburg, Port Washington, Bucks and Union townships, and a single precinct in New Philadelphia.
“We’ve had a lot of people calling in to find out if their polling locations are open because we only have 15 of our 40 polling locations.”
In-person voters are now required to show an unexpired, state-issued photo id such as a driver’s license or passport. Garbrandt says if you forget, you can either go back home to get it or cast a provisional ballot.
“They have four days after the election to actually bring their id into the board of elections, and we’re going to be open some extra hours. We’ll be open from 8 to 5 Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and from 8 to noon Saturday if we have any provisional voters.”
The WJER News team will be standing by when the polls close at 7:30 tonight to bring you the preliminary results, which Garbrandt doesn’t expect to start coming in until 8 o’clock or later.