Butler elections bureau director urges voters to ‘please be kind’ about mail-in ballot voting process
With the Nov. 3 general election on the horizon, frustration about an early voting process has led to some tense exchanges between some Butler County voters and Bureau of Elections staff members.
At the county commissioners meeting Wednesday, Oct. 28, Chantell McCurdy, Bureau of Elections director, said some voters who stopped by for in-person mail voting expressed displeasure at having to fill out an application to receive their ballot.
The voters in question had thought, incorrectly, that putting their ballot through a scanner was the only required step, and were taken aback after being told by bureau staff that they have to fill out paperwork first.
“To be honest, people were kind of rude,” McCurdy said, adding that some voters snapped their fingers at her staff.
“As you can imagine, that was not received quite well by the people in our office,” she said.
McCurdy requested people to keep in mind that the on-demand early voting process still requires an application for processing, before voters can be handed their ballots. The process, without a queue, takes at least five minutes and usually no longer than 10 minutes.
The process is technology dependent, she added. Sometimes, the computer could freeze.
“Given that all 67 counties are doing the process at the same time, and this is a computer system that was developed in the early 2000s on Linux — it doesn’t always cooperate,” she said.
Additional delays were occasionally caused by voters not following instructions listed on the county’s website, or not having their IDs at hand, McCurdy said. Voters can fill out the form ahead of their visit to save time, she added.
“As always, you are encouraged to vote any way that you feel is the best way for you to vote,” she said.
Tuesday was the deadline to request a mail-in ballot for Tuesday’s general election.
“If you missed the deadline, I’m very, very sorry, but you may please go to your polls and vote on Election Day,” she said. “The best I can say is please be kind. Don’t snap your fingers at anyone. That’s just rude.”
Also at the meeting, county commissioners approved the appointment of Karen Barbati, Patrick Casey and Carol Knox to the computation board for the election.
The board will start its official computation of election returns at the Bureau of Elections office on Nov. 6, at 9 a.m. The proceedings are open for public viewing, McCurdy said.
The process will likely continue into the following Monday before wrapping up.
