Reconsider Ohio Paper Ballot Order

The Intelligencer
Ohio voters seem to have made it clear that they, unlike the state’s chief elections officer, are comfortable with electronic voting machines. They did so during the primary election this week.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, concerned about security with electronic voting machines, ordered the 53 counties where they are used to offer voters the option of casting paper ballots rather than using the computer devices. Jefferson and Belmont were among counties affected by the order.

But in Jefferson County, just 457 of the 27,191 people who voted Tuesday asked for paper ballots. That is less than 1.7 percent. Belmont County elections officials, though estimating that they received a large number of requests for paper ballots, did not have numbers available.

A study by the Columbus Dispatch found that, where numbers were available in the 53 counties, relatively few paper ballots were requested.

The vast majority of voters given the option of using paper ballots instead of electronic devices seem comfortable with the machines, both from the standpoint of security and that of ease of voting.

Brunner’s job is to ensure that elections are operated as fairly and efficiently as possible, of course — but, again, most voters seem to believe that electronic voting machines are fine in those regards. That should prompt the secretary of state to reconsider her plan to promote use of paper ballots.