Reported by: Bill Price
Web produced by: Ian Preuth
Contributor: Gary Hughes
It may be hard to believe but the November elections are now less than three months away.
With extremely heavy voting expected this November, how and when you vote could change drastically, if election officials get their way.
On Thursday, the Hamilton County Board of Elections decided it will urge Hamilton County's almost 600,000 registered voters to vote early, and by absentee ballot.
The fear is that if upwards of 80 percent of registered voters wait until election day, they could face long waits and delays in voting. Since March 1, Hamilton County added another 11,000 new voters to its rolls.
Just this past March, Hamilton County saw record numbers casting absentee ballots early in the Presidential primary. Now, the Hamilton County Board of Elections wants to boost that early voting to reduce the risk of problems on Election Day.
Deputy Hamilton County Elections Director John Williams says, "We are looking at a massive absentee campaign this year. We are looking at the potential of a multiple page ballot. We believe it's going to be two pages at least and potentially more. That would obviously slow voters down."
At Thursday's election board meeting, plans were approved to expand the early absentee voting room at the elections board. Officials say this will make it easier to vote absentee early.
On downtown streets, community organizations like ACORN have busy and active in voter registration drives.
ACORN voter registration worker Antony Jemson has been on the job since February. He tells 9News, "I get a lot of mixed reactions. Some people say they don't vote. Then a lot of people are willing to sign up because I'm out here trying to do something positive. I'd say, by the week, I probably average about 125 people."
At a voter registration table outside the Hamilton County Courthouse, another group wants to put a referendum against tighter payday loan rules on the ballot.
Athena Marie is a paid petition worker. We asked her how many new voter registrations she collects a day. Marie says, "About 20 to 30 a day, but we get 150 signatures a day, which is what we are paid for."
Combine that with voter registration efforts by candidates, and election officials felt they had to take special action to be ready for November 4.
John Williams adds, "We're going to send an absentee ballot application to every voter in Hamilton County 60 days prior to the election. That idea is to try to relieve problems on Election Day."
Another way you may be able to help make for a smooth election, is to sign up to be a poll worker on Election Day. You can find out more about that by calling your county election board or your county clerk or visiting their web sites.
