Submitted photo Stephanie Penrose, Trumbull County Board of Elections director, stands behind several ballot requests waiting to be processed. Ballots cannot be sent to voters until Oct. 6, the first day of early voting under state law.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, board of elections directors in Mahoning and Trumbull counties say more people than ever will mail in their votes for this election.

They’re already seeing it with “well over 10,000” requests for ballots mailed to the Trumbull board, according to Stephanie Penrose, its director.

About 8,500 requests have been made to the Mahoning board, said Joyce Kale-Pesta, its director.

“They’re coming in heavily and steadily,” Penrose said. “We’ve been opening them every day, and we still are. They keep coming and coming. I’m being conservative saying we’ve got 10,000. We’re still putting them into the system. Until then, there’s no way to determine how many we have. I expect it to be the most we’ve ever received.”

With about 133,000 registered voters, Penrose said she expects about 50 percent of those casting ballots for this election to do it by mail.

In comparison, about 19,000 people voted by mail in the 2016 presidential election in Trumbull with another 11,000 voting early in person. Penrose said she anticipates about the same number of people who voted early in person to do so for this presidential election.

Kale-Pesta also expects a record number of mail votes this year because of the pandemic, but not nearly as high of a percentage as Penrose.

Mahoning has about 165,000 registered voters and Kale-Pesta expects about 40,000 to vote by mail and another 10,000 to vote early in person.

In 2016, about 32,000 votes were cast by mail and 10,000 voted early in person, she said.

“We started getting requests since right after the primary,” Kale-Pesta said. “We started putting them in the system because we want to get ahead of the game.”

AFRAID OF MAIL?

Kale-Pesta said she doesn’t expect 50 percent to vote by mail because some “people might be afraid of the mail and vote in person. The post office has been slowed down by the postmaster general.”

Kale-Pesta was referring to the controversy surrounding the U.S. Postal Service and the removal of high-speed mail-sorting machines, including two at Youngstown’s main branch, at the direction of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

Those expecting to get their ballots by now will have to wait several more weeks.

Under state law, ballots cannot start to be mailed until Oct. 6, which is also the first day of early in-person voting. That is 29 days before the election and the day after the voter registration deadline.

“That’s the first day we can mail them by law,” Penrose said. “We’re not permitted to send them out earlier than that. I’ve had a few calls asking where the ballots are, but most understand they don’t get them until Oct. 6.”

Kale-Pesta said, “We have received some calls from people who think they can get it right away and are wondering where their ballots are. But the time of when we can mail ballots hasn’t changed from previous years.”

The boards will send absentee ballots to all who have requested them starting Oct. 6 and then continue to mail them as they come in, Penrose and Kale-Pesta said.

“If we have 40,000 applications, we’ll send out 40,000 Oct. 6,” Penrose said.

DON’T PROCRASTINATE

Both directors urged voters wanting to cast ballots by mail to get their requests to boards of elections as quickly as possible. They strongly recommend not waiting until the final days before the Nov. 3 election to mail them back.

The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office isn’t mailing absentee ballot requests until around Labor Day, Sept. 7.

“We’re asking people to request them now,” Kale-Pesta said. “It’s going to be safe to go to the polls even with COVID. We have masks and other protections and will be wiping down the machines at polling locations. But if you want to vote by mail, you should make a request now or come to the dropbox at our office and get an application there.”

Penrose added, “We can’t control the post office. We know of all the problems they’re having. The sooner you send in requests, the better.”

There’s a change in where early voting in Trumbull County will take place.

It’s always been at the board of elections office at 2947 Youngstown Road SE in Warren. But because it’s small and the office uses the same doors to get people in and out, which raise concerns about social distancing, it will be at the former Chase Bank building, 2911 Youngstown Road SE, next to the board office, Penrose said.

County commissioners approved a $5,600 lease through Nov. 15 to use the building.

The Mahoning County Board of Elections will continue to use dedicated space at Oakhill Renaissance Place, 345 Oak Hill Ave. in Youngstown, the same building where the board has its office, as its early voting center.