SCIOTO— A second 2022 primary election will offer Ohioans the opportunity to exercise their voting rights on Tuesday. And with early voting turnout looking low, every vote truly counts.
Julia Gearheart, Director of the Scioto County Board of Elections (BOE), explained that voters should remember how much their vote truly matters, especially in elections such as primaries which, historically, tend to see a lower voter turnout. She said that for this election, the Scioto County BOE saw about 500 early voting ballots submitted, an amount which she describes as “very low” for the Scioto County office.
“Every vote counts,” Gearheart said emphatically. “There’s been so many times we’ve seen tie votes where it comes down to the flip of a coin. In small elections like this where there has not been a heavy turnout, anything can go. Every vote does definitely count. And I think there is a confusion out there this time whether there’s an election or not an election, so if anybody gets out to vote please go vote at your polling place.”
Voters in Scioto County can expect to see three issues on their ballots for the August 2nd election. Two of these issues feature the male and female candidates for State Central Committees (SCC) in Ohio.
SCCs are elected bodies which run Ohio’s respective Republican and Democratic parties. Each SCC features one male member and one female member from each of Ohio’s 33 senatorial districts, for a total of 66 members.
Term length for SCC members is determined by outgoing committee but, at present, is two years in duration.
Those voters with a Republican ballot can expect to see four male candidates running for the seat in the 14th District: Melvin A. Dean, Chris Hicks, Christopher Orleck, and Greg Simpson. Gloria Martin is running uncontested for the female seat.
The Democratic ballot features two male candidates for SCC in the 14th District: Randy E. Basham and Ben Brady. Melissa Cropper is uncontested in the race for the female SCC member.
Each ballot also features primary candidates in the race for Ohio State Representative in the 90th District. The Republican ballot features incumbent Brian Baldridge against challenger Calvin Eli Robinson. On the Democratic ballot, Andrew Dodson is running uncontested.
Gearheart also wants Scioto County voters to know that some may be voting in a different location than usual, as some polling locations in the city have changed.
“Every polling location is open, but we did have a couple of changes,” she explained. “We did vote at the LIFE Center and we have moved out of there. All of the city of Portsmouth, excluding Sciotoville, will vote at the Cornerstone [United Methodist] Church for this election. We did have to move out of Hudson House—they had an activity going on for August 2nd, so we are all in the Cornerstone [United Methodist] Church now. For the [rest of the] county, all the precincts are the same [and rural voters should use those same polls as last year to vote in this primary election].”
All other polling locations throughout the county remain unchanged. For voters in Portsmouth affected by the change, Cornerstone United Methodist Church is located at 808 Offnere Street in Portsmouth.
The second primary election takes place on Tuesday, August 2nd. Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and will remain open until 7:30 p.m.
To check your polling place, view a sample ballot, or track the status of an absentee ballot, visit the Scioto County BOE online at: www.boe.ohio.gov/scioto
Follow www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com or facebook Portsmouth Daily Times’ page for election results.
