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LISBON -- The outcome of the Aug. 8 special election remained the same, with Columbiana County residents overwhelmingly voting in favor of State Issue 1 which failed statewide.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Columbiana County Board of Elections certified the official tally of votes, which included remaining absentee ballots and the provisional ballots.
The final total was 14,838 in favor of the issue which asked to increase the percentage of votes need to pass a state constitutional amendment to 60 percent instead of a simple majority of 50 percent plus 1. The number of no votes totaled 9,608. The voter turnout was 37.88 percent.
During the meeting, the board reconsidered three provisional ballots that had been rejected after being coded improperly. All three ballots dealt with voter registration, with the board agreeing to count them in the official canvass. That meant 169 eligible provisional ballots were counted and 37 were ineligible for various reasons.
Two more local liquor options were invalidated for the Nov. 7 ballot after election officials heard back from the Department of Liquor Control regarding their applications for liquor licenses. March TWO Ltd. in Salem 2A and Nikkis Market in East Liverpool 3B were both kicked off the ballot, bringing the number of local liquor options down to nine.
For March TWO Ltd., Board of Elections Director Kim Fusco said the address on the application did not match the address on the petition, which is a requirement. The petition circulated for signatures listed an address of 146 S. Broadway while the application listed an address of 138 S. Broadway. For Nikkis Market, the application on file with the Department of Liquor Control was expired.
The board followed the advice of legal counsel in invalidating both local liquor options.
In other business, the board agreed to use Graphic Village as the vendor for the vote by mail process in the Nov. 7 election at a cost of an estimated $1.95 per packet sent out to voters who request an absentee ballot.
The board also agreed to do the required post election audit, when personnel have to hand count 5 percent of the vote of the last election, on Aug. 29, with the board to meet at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 30. Fusco said they have to hand count at least 1,222 ballots from the special election by using at least three randomly selected precincts.
In other matters, Deputy Director Bryce Miner reported he wanted to create a multi-precinct polling place for Hanover Township precincts at United schools and was looking at the situation. He also announced that Hope Christian church in Yellow Creek Township no longer wants to be a polling place location, so they'll need to find a new place.
The meeting ended with a lot of discussion regarding voters not being permitted to wear political attire while voting. The issue had been discussed briefly at the last meeting and Fusco said each polling place receives a sign that's supposed to be posted prohibiting political clothing. Vice Chairman Patty Colian said she had received some complaints regarding a voter's political attire during the recent special election.
Fusco said the rule needs to be enforced and the signs aren't put up, so they'll have a floater checking the polling locations for the signs during the next election. She said people are asked nicely to take off their hat or turn a shirt inside out or put on a coat to cover up the political attire.
She stressed, though, that "we do not deny anybody the right to vote."