Ohio Works to Allay Voting Security Worries

(1 Nov 2016) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus066056

With just a week to go before Election Day, election boards around the United States are contending with campaign claims of voter fraud.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's rallying cry about the potential for a "rigged election" has been followed in recent weeks with his unprecedented refusal to commit to honor the result of the November 8 vote.
Ohio's Franklin County covers suburban Columbus, has over 800-thousand registered voters and voter turnout in this area is expected to be between 70 and 73 percent.
David Payne, with the Franklin County Board of Elections, says his county, as well as his state, are used to being in the spotlight every presidential elections.
Payne said he has had some voters call him with complaints about voter security or worries about a rigged election, but no one has taken him up on his offer of a tour of the County's election facilities.
Payne says the Franklin County Board of Elections' directors and staff are evenly divided between the Republican and Democratic parties and they strive to ensure security at every level.
In Ohio, voters taking advantage of the state's no fault early ballot can cast their vote anywhere from October 12th to the day before the general election, on November 7th.
Despite the early voting period in Ohio being one week less than the previous presidential election, Payne believes the voting trends show 2016 will be on track to match, if not exceed the 2012 voting tally.
At the Board's Early Voting Center, election observers from both parties are on site to monitor for any irregularities. Observers will be extended to the county's 821 voting precincts on Election Day.
The Board of Elections also uses a two-key approach to all live ballots collected in early voting. Those early ballots will stores and not counted until Election Day.
Behind secure doors at the Board of Elections office, hundreds of voting machines are being checked and prepared before being deployed to local precincts.

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