Reply #42: They can't scan absentee ballots while they're tabulating regular votes

[Doremus]

"The Lucas County board's legal adviser, assistant county prosecutor John Borell, reads the law in a more sensible fashion. He says the statute doesn't say ballots can be scanned early but neither does it say they can't be. Thus, he says, election workers should be able to scan the ballots in advance but wait to tabulate the votes recorded on them until the polls close on Election Day.

We understand that state law prohibits counting absentee votes until after the polls close, but scanning the forms is not the same as tabulating the votes and could be completed in advance.

Waiting to scan until Elections Day puts boards of elections in a time crunch. Their computers typically cannot accept information on absentee ballots at the same time they're handling regular election day votes. That could unnecessarily delay the results."

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061028/OPINION02/610280332