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City lawyer calls case 'essential.' Decision expected by Monday
By Phil Trexler Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Friday, Sep 21, 2007
A judge will rule by Monday on whether to allow Summit County election workers to count 200 absentee ballots delivered late by postal workers.
Common Pleas Judge Thomas Teodosio on Thursday heard testimony and arguments by the city of Akron, whose attorneys are seeking a court order to allow the Sept. 11 primary votes to be counted.
Attorneys representing the state of Ohio argued that while the postal delay is unfortunate, the ballots cannot and should not be counted under current law.
Teodosio said he could rule on the issue as soon as today or as late as Monday. The Board of Elections begins its certification process on Monday, and it is bound to make the results official by Tuesday.
Election board Director Bryan Williams testified that the number of late ballots stands at 200 after four were thrown out because they contained no postmark and were delivered a day after the primary.
He said the ballots have not been examined, but the envelopes indicate many were mailed from within Akron, where two council races are currently separated by less than 13 votes.
He testified that election workers went to the West Exchange Street post office on election day and were told there were no ballots. The next day, the ballots were delivered to the board.
Ohio law only allows domestic absentee ballots received by election day to count. There are no provisions for those delivered late through the mail, regardless of postmarks. Military and overseas ballots have a 10-day window after the polls close.
The city is arguing on constitutional grounds that the votes should count because they were mailed before the deadline. Postal workers have apologized for their error and are trying to determine why they were not delivered in time.
''It's essential and critical that every vote is counted,'' Law Director Max Rothal testified. ''This is essential to the integrity of the charter of the city of Akron.''
He said voters affected by the postal delay were disenfranchised from the election process through no fault of their own.
Assistant Law Director Deborah Forfia told the judge in closing arguments that the government owes its voters the right to have their votes counted. ''We need to make amends,'' she said. ''We need to make it right.''
Richard Coglianese, an assistant Ohio attorney general, said the integrity of elections depends on consistency and enforcing existing laws. He called the situation sad and unfortunate.
But, he said, ''there have to be rules. There has to be a final day.''
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
A judge will rule by Monday on whether to allow Summit County election workers to count 200 absentee ballots delivered late by postal workers.
Get the full article here.
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