MOUNT VERNON — Almost 700 ballots mailed out to Knox County voters for the primary election never came back.
The Knox County Board of Elections sent out 9,859 mail-in ballots, of which 673 did not come back — but why they did not is unknown.
The numbers for the ballots were compiled by Knox County BOE Director Kim Horn in an absentee ballot certification form required by the Ohio Secretary of State’s office.
To receive a mail-in ballot for the primary, the voter had to first fill out an application that they sent back into the BOE. The BOE then sent the ballots out by mail for the voter to complete and return to the BOE.
A total of 10,768 ballots were cast in Knox County in the primary. However, 11,454 ballots were prepared; the difference represents the 673 ballots that were mailed out and never received by the BOE, as well as 13 ballots that were returned as undeliverable.
How Knox County stacks up with the rest of the state in the number of unreturned ballots is not known. Maggie Sheehan, press secretary for the secretary of state office, said statewide results for the primary have not yet been certified.
Sheehan said that in every election, there are ballots requested by voters who “may not choose to cast those ballots.”
Of the received ballots, 75 were rejected for various reasons, such as the ballots not being filled out properly.
Before March 17, 1,595 ballots were cast during early in-person voting.
Ballots were counted April 28, the election day set after Gov. DeWine postponed the March 17 primary date due to safety concerns over the coronavirus. Ballots that were post-marked April 27 were still counted if they arrived within a 10-day window after April 28; the BOE received 264 ballots in the 10-day window. Ten ballots came in that were post-marked after April 27 and were not counted, according to Horn.
The Knox County April 28 ballot was certified May 15. No outcomes were changed in races or issues.
The BOE is still considering whether to apply for a reimbursement for additional expenses incurred preparing ballots. Horn said an average of five extra workers were brought in per week, and for a time, the BOE had to hand-write envelopes until they received more pre-printed ones, Horn said. Most of that expense will probably be covered by a $25,000 payment already received from the state for additional expenses, she said.
The state also sent $1,000 to the BOE for personal protective equipment and disinfectant. That money was for supplies for in-person voting at the polls March 17, before DeWine decided to postpone the primary and cancel in-person voting. However, the BOE spent $1,800 on PPE, Horn said, and they are asking for $800 of that to be reimbursed.
The BOE further approved payments for poll workers who were scheduled to work March 17 and had already accrued some expenses, such as mileage or time preparing poll locations the night before March 17. The amounts will be less than what the workers would have received if the March 17 primary had gone as planned, Horn said.
