By Cheryl Splain, KnoxPages.com Reporter
MOUNT VERNON — Gearing up for the general election on Nov. 8, the Knox County Board of Elections is requesting an additional $51,500 from the Knox County Board of Commissioners. The commissioners had allocated $637,507.
Meeting with the commissioners on Thursday, Kim Horn, director of the BOE, said the bulk of the additional money is for equipment. She cited the following as reasons for the shortfall:
*The cost of buying privacy booths and precinct tables for each precinct exceeded anticipated costs; this excess plus other items purchased to ease the transition to the new voting system cost close to $20,000.
*The board voted to buy seven more Express poll books and one additional high-speed scanner at a cost of $16,693. Up to 85 percent of that is reimbursable by the state.
*The board voted to buy a high-speed letter opener at a cost of $3,400. Horn said this will save many hours of opening absentee ballots by hand.
*Mandated overtime for the four full-time BOE employees is 62 hours each.
Horn said that the board’s goal is uniformity in regard to the same amount of tables and voting booths at each voting location. The seven Express poll books, which accommodate electronic sign-in rather than the paper poll books, allow for a couple of backups and an extra one at the Glenn A. Gallagher Center voting location.
“It’s staggering the price of equipment, and there’s very few places that sell this stuff,” she told the commissioners.
Noting that “additional overtime seems to be accumulating,” Commissioner Thom Collier asked Horn whether the full-time employees could stagger their hours to cover the extra state-mandated hours the BOE must be open to accommodate early in-person voting. According to the state’s election schedule, the BOE is required to stay open 53 hours more than the office’s normal 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. schedule.
Horn told KnoxPages.com later that “in theory, that sounds good, but it really can’t be done in this office.”
Collier also noted that part-time staff is cheaper than full-time. The BOE has five part-time employees during October. Three work in the absentee room and two in the office.
Horn said the BOE is planning for 16,000 absentee voters and a turnout between 75 percent and 80 percent, which is comparable to the 2012 presidential election.
The commissioners previously allocated $637,507 to the BOE for 2016. This is $127,000 more than previous years and includes a $100,000 bond payment for equipment bought earlier this year. Commissioner Teresa Bemiller said the board voted to purchase new voting machines just before the March primary rather than waiting for the state to negotiate a purchase package with a vendor. Bemiller said she has been told some of that purchase cost will still be reimbursable, but pointed out that the county had to come up with the money up front.
When asked if the commissioners will approve the additional $51,500, Bemiller said, “It’s very difficult not to approve it because we have to prove to the courts why we didn’t.”
The board is comprised of Republicans Carol Sue Owens and Terry Divelbiss and Democrats Adam Gilson and Reba Borchers. It meets on the third Thursday of each month at 12:30 p.m., 117 E. High St., Suite 210.
Editor’s note: The deadline to register to vote in the November 8, 2016 election is October 11, 2016. For more information contact the Board of Elections at 740-393-6716 or visit http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Voters/register.aspx.