County seeks updated voter information

Information submitted

Today, election officials in Van Wert County are urging county residents to register to vote or update their existing voter information.

“This year is a unique year for elections in Ohio,” said Linda Stutz of the county board of elections. “Each registered voter in the state will be receiving an application to vote by mail. However, in order to receive the application, our board of elections must have voters’ current registration information.”

The Ohio Secretary of State is sending out vote by mail applications to every voter around Ohio. On July 4, all 88 counties will be submitting their voter rolls to the state to aid in the mailing. Thus, voters need to have up to date information on file with the board of elections prior to July 4. While a supplemental mailing will be going out closer to the election, voters will receive the most amount of time to complete the application if they are registered prior to July 4.

Under Ohio law, only votes cast in the correct precinct can be counted. Consequently, it is imperative that boards of elections have current information for each voter.

“Having clean voter rolls is essential to running good elections, and we are asking for every voter to help us with this task,” said Stutz. “Having up-to-date voter information not only helps us at the board of elections, it greatly increases the chance that every vote legally cast will be counted.”

The Van Wert County Board of Elections also announced that it is not mailing out voter registration forms to county residents this year. Any person that has voted in the last four years should be eligible to vote in the upcoming November General Election, but voters should still make sure their registration information is correct.

For more information, call 419.238.4192 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.