With few races and issues of interest on the May 2 primary ballot, Mahoning Valley election directors acknowledge their low expected turnout projections are probably too optimistic.

Tom McCabe, director of the Mahoning County Board of Elections, predicted 20 percent turnout while saying the only race that might attract interest is the Democratic primary for Struthers Municipal Court judge.

“There’s no Republican primary and very few Democratic primaries with a handful of issues,” he said. “Requests for absentee ballots are way down. We’ll start a little bit high and readjust as we go on. I don’t see where the turnout is going to come for this election.”

Stephanie Penrose, director of the Trumbull County Board of Elections, expects turnout in the county to be about 15 percent — though she predicts 20 percent in Warren because of the city’s charter amendment issue and Democratic mayoral race as well as a Democratic municipal court race.

“I’m probably a little high in what I’m predicting,” she said. “I try to be hopeful. Nothing else is going to drive turnout except maybe in Newton Falls where there’s a mayor’s race and council. I think the Warren charter issue will bring people out.”

Turnout during odd numbered primaries in the area is typically poor.

In the 2021 primary, turnout in Trumbull was 8.87 percent and was 13.99 percent in Mahoning. In the 2019 primary, turnout was 14.68 percent in Trumbull and 10.77 percent in Mahoning. During that primary, there was a countywide sales tax on the ballot in Mahoning County.

In 2017, turnout in Trumbull was 15.86 percent and 19.34 percent in Mahoning.

Early voting starts Tuesday.

In Trumbull County, 100 of the 158 voting precincts will be open for the May 2 election.

In Mahoning, 68 of the county’s 212 precincts will be open for the primary.

NEW VOTING LAWS

There are a number of new provisions from a state voting law, approved last year, that take effect with this election.

A photo identification is needed to vote early or on Election Day.

Forms of ID that were acceptable in past elections that are no longer valid include bank statements, utility bills, pay stubs, government checks or the last four digits of a person’s Social Security number.

To vote, a person needs one of the following: a driver’s license, a state ID card, a passport, a passport card or a military ID.

But those who request absentee ballots by mail can use either their driver’s license ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number to vote.

The new policy has drawn criticism from various groups including military veterans, out-of-state college students and senior citizens concerned they won’t be permitted to vote. The policy came in response to claims of widespread fraud and persistent conspiracy theories over the accuracy of elections, according to the Associated Press.

McCabe said less than 1 percent of Mahoning County voters don’t use a photo ID.

“It’s very few people who will be affected by this,” he said. “If they don’t have a photo ID, they can vote by mail and use the last four digits of their Social Security number.”

Penrose said the Trumbull board doesn’t track forms of identification used by voters, but said the number of those who don’t use photo IDs is “very low.”

Also, requests for absentee ballots must be received by board of elections seven days before an election compared to the old law, which allowed requests to be made three days prior.

“When we accepted them on Saturday (before an election), I used to think, ‘Good luck’ because it would never get back to them in time to vote,” McCabe said. “The timeline just didn’t make sense before. Now it does.”

Penrose said of the old three-day deadline: “It was impossible to process and get it mailed back to them in time. The mail isn’t as fast as it used to be.”

Also, those mailing back absentee ballots still have to have them postmarked by the Monday before the election, but they have to arrive no later than four days after the election. The old law was 10 days.

McCabe said nearly all of the late-arriving absentee ballots come within the first four days after an election so this won’t change much.

Penrose said it also moves up the start of election certification by six days.

“It doesn’t change much in odd years but in even-year elections with many provisional ballots it’s a tight because we don’t have a large time frame to get that resolved,” she said. “But with new ID laws it might not have as much of an impact.”

The new law also restricts the use of voting boxes. During election season, people used to be able to drop off ballots at any time in the locked boxes — one per county. Now, the times are restricted to in-person early voting hours and the boxes must have a camera on them at all times, McCabe said.

The boards of elections will have to open the boxes in the morning when early voting starts and then close them when that time ends.

Penrose and McCabe said their offices will retrain pollworkers, even longtime ones, on the new rules.

“With the ID change, it simplifies it for pollworkers,” McCabe said. “The other changes are administrative at the boards of elections.”

EARLY VOTING HOURS

Another change with this election is voting hours.

The new state voting law eliminated early voting on the day before the primary. The six hours lost on that day were added to days during the final full week of early voting.

“I would have extended the hours on Sunday” before the election, Penrose said. “I would have put all six hours on that Sunday, but that’s just me. We get good turnout on that Sunday.”

McCabe said the state Legislature “could have added a few hours on Sunday. We get people lining up a couple of hours before we open on that Sunday. The state Legislature is talking about it. This May is a temporary solution and we’ll see later that straightened out.”

Early voting, McCabe said, hasn’t increased turnout.

“All we did was spread out when people vote, not how many people vote,” he said. “Whatever hours they give us, we’ll handle it. It’s not about disenfranchising voters because we haven’t seen a dramatic change.”

Early in-person voting is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday.

It is also 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 10 to 14 and April 17 to 21.

It is 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. April 24, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. April 25, and 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. April 26 to 28.

Early voting on April 29, the Saturday before the May 2 primary, is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

It is 1 to 5 p.m. April 30, the Sunday before the primary.

The Trumbull office is at 2947 Youngstown Road SE, Warren.

The Mahoning office is at Oakhill Renaissance Place, 345 Oak Hill Ave., Youngstown.

Polling locations are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. May 2.

Eliminating the Monday hours is “a big weight lifted off of us,” Penrose said. “We can send out our early voter file on Sunday night rather than late Monday. A well-rested staff is a more capable staff.”

REGISTRATION DEADLINE

County election boards in Ohio will remain open until 9 p.m. today to allow people to register to vote in the upcoming primary election if they aren’t already registered voters. It’s the final day to do so.

To register in person, you need either your driver’s license number or state ID and the last four digit of your Social Security number.

People can also register online at voteohio.gov, the Ohio secretary of state’s website, by 9 p.m. today.