Brunner Releases Report On Voter Wait Times

Monday, 24 August 2009 07:21

Press Release from Ohio Secretary of State Brunner

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner released Monday a report regarding the feasibility of establishing a statewide maximum wait time for Ohio voters.

The report, issued as part of a settlement with the League of Women Voters of Ohio, concludes that it is not practical to establish a statewide maximum wait time.

Secretary Brunner found that current and ongoing best practices developed by the Secretary of State’s office in consultation with several county election officials and diverse stakeholders, provide boards of elections with many tools to help avoid and mitigate long lines.

“As seen in the successful 2008 presidential election, Secretary Brunner has a proven track record of implementing best practices that ensure free, fair, open and honest elections. Secretary Brunner remains committed to policies such as fair voting machine allocations, uniform poll worker training and backup paper ballots during very high turnout elections,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Farrell said.

In 2008, Secretary Brunner issued elections administration policies that have since been recognized as national best practices, including the following:

• Directive 2008-59: Optical Scan Ballots for Voters in Counties Using DRE Voting Machines.
• Directive 2008-64: Guidelines for Voting Machine Acquisition and Allocation.
• Directive 2008-74: County Board of Elections Security and Risk Mitigation Plan.
• Directive 2008-77: Minimum Requirements and Best Practices for Poll Worker Training.
• Directive 2008-107: Offering Optical Scan Ballots in the Event of Long Lines.

In response to bipartisan recommendations from the Ohio elections conferences, Secretary Brunner also recommends additional policies to further reduce the likelihood of long lines during an election, including the following:

• Flexibility for counties to establish up to four early voting locations, following clear statewide standards to provide fair distribution of those locations.
• Uniform statewide voting machine allocation planning, to be required by Ohio law.
• Streamlined ballot design and length, to cut down on costs and provide a more efficient voting experience.

The report may be accessed at www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/news/20090824.pdf

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