HANCOCK COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS ANNOUNCES AN INVESTIGATION BEING CONDUCTED BY THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE

Please be aware it will take you a longer time to cast your ballot because of the process [ordered by Secretary LaRose involving  a "paper-oriented check-in" as explained below].

The Hancock County Board of Elections, its Director, Deputy Director, Board Members, Poll Workers, and as well as its employees have worked diligently to achieve a process that is believed to be as smooth as possible and meets the requirements of the Secretary of State.  In addition to being a paper-oriented check-in process, voters in multi-precinct voting locations will have to check-in at the location designated for their specific precinct.  Greeters will be assigned to assist voters to identify the voter’s precinct.

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To prepare for the election, voters can check their precinct by going to www.hancockcountyohioelections.gov. then under the menu click on Check your information then click on Where do I vote. Under Precinct Information you will find your Precinct. The Hancock County Board of Elections apologizes to the voters of this inconvenience.

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Full Press Release by the Board of Elections​

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(Findlay) – the Hancock County Board of Elections announces today that the Secretary of State has initiated an investigation of a voter check-in tablet purchased by a board of elections for a county east of Columbus.

Local election officials found that a single, newly purchased tablet-style device may violate Ohio’s Election security standards.  The device, often called an electronic poll book, would have been used to check voters into a polling location but had not been deployed in an election.

“I’ve directed our Election Integrity Unit and cybersecurity team to work with the … County Board of Elections to analyze the equipment purchased by the board,” said the Secretary of State in a release to the County Boards.  “While this investigation is limited right now to a single device in one county, I’m taking the precautionary step of ordering my team to review all voter check-in systems for compliance with our security directives ahead of the May election.  As an added precaution, I’m directing the boards of elections who use this specific style of poll book to use paper poll books for the May election.  This action will have little to no impact on voters, as we anticipate turnout to be relatively low and I’ve always required boards of elections to have paper poll book backups ready to go as a contingency.”

Electronic poll books are never connected to voting or tabulating equipment, so those devices are not impacted.  Additionally, all voting equipment, including electronic poll books, undergoes rigorous, routine compliance testing before every election.  The Secretary of State’s Office and the 88 county boards of elections initiated that process this week ahead of in-person early voting for the May 6 primary election.

The Hancock County Board of Elections, its Director, Deputy Director, Board Members, Poll Workers, and as well as its employees have worked diligently to achieve a process that is believed to be as smooth as possible and meets the requirements of the Secretary of State.  In addition to being a paper-oriented check-in process, voters in multi-precinct voting locations will have to check-in at the location designated for their specific precinct.  Greeters will be assigned to assist voters to identify the voter’s precinct.

Please be aware it will take you a longer time to cast your ballot because of the process. To prepare for the election, voters can check their precinct by going to www.hancockcountyohioelections.gov. then under the menu click on “Check your information,” then click on “Where do I vote” Under “Precinct Information” you will find your Precinct. The Hancock County Board of Elections apologizes to the voters of this inconvenience.