JEFFERSON — The Ashtabula County Board of Elections signed off on a number of write-ins for the upcoming general election at a meeting Wednesday.
Board of Elections Deputy Director Charlie Frye said 11 candidates filed to be a write-in.
“That is by far and away the most write-ins that we’ve ever had,” he said in a response to a question from board member Susan Hagan.
The board unanimously approved the candidates.
The write in candidates are:
* Kristy Hosken for Ashtabula City Council Ward 3
* Angela Long for Geneva-on-the-Lake Village Council
* Adam Painter, Michael C. Tran and Jay R. Warner for North Kingsville Village Council
* Brian Adkins, Lisa Butler and Jacquelynn Foote for Orwell Village Council
* Stephanie Griffin, T. Elizabeth Penna and Julie Petro for Ashtabula Area City Schools Board of Education
The approval of write-in candidates made the Ashtabula City Council Ward 3, North Kingsville and Orwell village council and AACS Board of Education races contested.
“Their names will not go on the ballot themselves, but a line will be put on the ballot for someone to write their name in,” Frye said.
The board approved Bill Buskirk’s withdrawal of his name from the ballot for the Geneva School board race.
The board is conducting mock elections at area high schools this week, with the first one taking place at Geneva High School yesterday, Board of Elections Director John Mead said.
“The students are excited, the mechanics of it are working out excellent, and we’re thrilled about that,” he said.
Today, A-Tech, Saint John and Grand Valley will host a mock election.
“Whatever doesn’t work out for [Wednesday], we will get corrected for [today], but we don’t anticipate any problems at all,” Mead said.
The students will go through the process just like it is a regular election.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is expected to be in town to see the mock election at A-Tech, Mead said. LaRose also sent a video to participating schools.
The planning process for the election started in May, Mead said.
The program will introduce high school juniors and seniors on how to go to the polls when they reach voting age, Mead said.
“It’s also a great mechanism to recruit poll workers,” he said.
Frye said the board had to find a window where they could conduct the mock election without impacting the work they have to do on the upcoming election.
The Board of Elections may look to conduct another mock election in the winter months and involve more schools, Frye said.
He thanked the principal and teachers at Geneva High School, and said they did a very good job.
Mead said the BoE instituted the program this year, to educate students about the process and potentially recruit poll workers.
The ballot for the mock election is designed just like it would be for a regular election, Mead said.
Students have been recruited to work as poll workers at the election, and participating students will vote just like they would at a normal election, he said.
There were some things that are different, like students not being required to have a government-issued identification, Frye said.
Grand Valley will vote from 10 a.m.-12:50 p.m., A-Tech will vote from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m., and Saint John will vote from 7:30-9:30 a.m., Frye said.
Frye said more than 100 people have signed up to be poll workers after the BoE sent out letters on the subject to county residents.
The letter went out this week, Mead said.