COLUMBUS – Secretary of State Jon Husted Friday named 174 individuals to serve as members of the county boards of elections in Ohio. The new board appointees begin their three-year terms on March 1, 2016.
Darke County board members Beverly J. Marker, first appointed in 2008, and Edward W. Curry, first appointed in 2012, were reappointed to their positions.
Husted reminded the new members of their responsibility to administer elections in a fair and impartial manner so all Ohioans can be assured that their vote is meaningful.
“We want to run the best elections in the nation as we know the eyes of the election world will be on Ohio,” Husted said. “Achieving this goal is dependent on the men and women who serve at the local level and I want them to understand that we are counting on them to get the job done.”
State law requires bipartisan representation on each of Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections. Each board is made up of two Republican members and two Democratic members, all of whom must be qualified electors in the counties for which they serve. The Secretary of State makes appointments to boards of elections based on the recommendations of the executive committees of the respective county political parties.
Terms on the 88 county boards of elections are traditionally four years long; however, a change in state law requires the appointments be made in odd-numbered calendar years. Members appointed in 2014 were named to three-year terms that will expire in 2017. Terms for members taking their oaths Friday will expire in 2019. Appointments made in 2017 and 2019 will resume the traditional schedule of four-year terms.
“Local elections officials are on the front lines of our mission to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat in Ohio,” added Husted. “The elections officials in all 88 counties must do a good job to make Ohio look great.”
Husted Friday administered the oath of office to 40 of the new and returning board members during a ceremony in the Chamber of the House of Representatives in the Ohio Statehouse.
