MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Board of Elections scheduled a hearing following a challenge of voter registrations for 28 Knox County residents.
Sue Lindeman, of Howard, submitted 28 names of individuals registered to vote in Knox County, challenging their residency, registration, and validity to vote.
Elections Director James Blazer said two applications were denied due to insufficient substance to the challenge.
The BOE will forward 26 challenges to the Knox County Board for a hearing on Friday, March 28, at 8 a.m. at the elections office, 104 E. Sugar St.
The board comprises Democrats Adam Gilson and Joyce Skocic and Republicans Jeff Gottke and Korey Kidwell.
Blazer said the board typically decides the cases individually unless they have a common theme.
“We have to meet within 10 calendar days of receipt of the challenge,” Blazer said. “It’s a pretty intense amount of work getting the data together.”
BOE staff notified the 26 individuals of the challenge. While the individuals are not required to attend, the board may choose to ask for sworn testimony during the hearing.
Legal counsel representing the challenged voters may also ask questions while a witness is under oath.
“Because of the Ohio Revised Code, it’s handled much like a court hearing,” Blazer said. “The parties have the right to have legal representation, and people will be sworn in if they choose to attend.”
The Knox County prosecutor or his representative will also attend.
Blazer said the challenge concerns being registered to vote, not any votes cast.
“It’s more of an administrative thing to prevent [issues] with a vote,” Blazer said.
“In this particular case, it’s alleged the people moved from Ohio to North Carolina.”
Voter registration challenges are a growing trend
Blazer said challenges used to be rare.
“It happens more often now, and other counties have the same thing,” he said.
Last year, Lindeman challenged 11 voter registrations, which resulted in a hearing. The individuals had registered to vote using their post office box number at PakMail as their address.
The address must be the residence, not a rented post office box.
Blazer said BOE staff met with PakMail and provided information to help prevent similar challenges in the future.
The 11 voters had time to correct their registrations before the next election.
