Board of Elections approves provisional ballots
Apr. 2—JEFFERSON — The Ashtabula County Board of Elections met on Monday morning to vote on the acceptance of provisional ballots.
The board approved 56 provisional ballots, which were checked and found to be valid.
One ballot was rejected because the voter had already voted, 13 were rejected because voters failed to provide ID, one was rejected because the voter failed to sign the envelope, and four were rejected because the voter was not registered, and one was rejected because the voter trjed to vote at the wrong location.
Board of Elections Director Charlie Frye said the voters either did not have ID with them at the polling place, or their ID was expired.
Unofficial results for the March 19 primary showed just under 16,000 votes were cast in the county for the election.
The approved provisional ballots will be counted and added to the unofficial totals, before a future meeting to approve the final vote totals.
In other business:
—The board also conducted an executive session that lasted approximately an hour. The topic was personnel issues.
Board member Isaac Arthur made a motion to enter executive session regarding possible ethics policy infractions of a staff member, and board president Joe Varckette said the reason for the executive session would be the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion or demotion of a public employee or official.
—Board Member Jeff Magyar raised an issue with the minutes of the March 19 meeting.
Only one executive session was initially reflected on the minutes, as opposed to the two that took place, he said.
Magyar also said there were several items listed incorrectly, including a motion to refer an executive session item to the board's legal counsel. Magyar said there was a discussion about whether or not a motion was necessary, and it was decided no motion was necessary. He also said the minutes incorrectly reflected who made several motions.
The approval of the minutes was tabled so they could be corrected.
Magyar then moved that Monday's meeting be recorded, to ensure accurate minutes.
