May 10th Cuyahoga County Mock Election To Test Electronic Pollbooks

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections (BOE) is conducting a Mock Election 1pm-3pm, Tuesday 5/10/16, at its main building – 2925 Euclid Avenue, in downtown Cleveland.  This Mock Election is being conducted to do a head-to-head comparison of electronic pollbook products from two vendors.  You need an Ohio Driver’s License or State ID to participate, and can register/rsvp to participate here.  The BOE states “Electronic poll books will affect the way elections are administered in Cuyahoga County.  Before making such a significant investment, the Board of Elections must determine which model of electronic poll book – combined with software requirements – can best meet the needs of our unique voting population.”  Many Ohio counties already use electronic pollbooks (see E-pollbooks by County), and the Ohio 2016-2017 Fiscal Year budget appropriated $12,750,000 for electronic pollbooks (see page 14 of Budget in Detail, Am. Sub. H.B. 64, 131st General Assembly).  The Ohio Secretary of State issued Advisory 2013-04 on “Statewide Standards for County Boards of Elections Purchasing Electronic Pollbooks” on 8/14/13, and the Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners adopted Standards Governing the Examination and Certification of Electronic Pollbooks for Use in Ohio Elections on 2/6/14.  Interestingly, the 2/19/16 Ohio Secretary of State Directive 2016-04 states “Any county board of elections that has not deployed electronic pollbooks in a countywide election by the March 15, 2016 Presidential Primary Election may not deploy them for the first time in any precinct or polling location on Election Day for the November 8, 2016 General Election.”