Each team, the Eagles in the Bengals had five possessions each in the second half. The Bengals scored on one of the five and the Eagles scored on five out of the five, and it was unstoppable. So if they played another quarter, they would have scored seven out of seven. And the Bengals, it looks at me like they lost their guts, they lost their brains, they lost their heart, they lost their gonads, they lost everything on the field of honor.
But we'll see what happens.
The Raiders are in town, the Las Vegas Raiders, Moe and others, and Lance will break it down later on today. But nonetheless, as you may know, there's an election a week from Tuesday, and Sherry Poland runs the Hamilton County Board of Elections with an iron grip. She is also a national expert when it comes to these matters. When I speak to those of the Democrat Party, if I speak to Tim Burke, or if I speak to Alixe Trountafilu at the Republican Party, I get the same answer.
That is, she's nonpartisan. She's built a system that is the envy of the rest of the world. In Hamlet County, And we have the honor this afternoon of being with Sherry, Poland and Sherry. Welcome again to the Bill, cunninghams and Sherry. First of all, I deal with facts. So many people deal with opinion. I only deal with facts. As we sit here this Monday afternoon, how many people have voted? Break it down by in person and by mail? What percent of out of the total on each come election day?
How many people in your opinion will vote? Is there a breakdown Republican and Democrat? What's going to happen with the races? Are their difficulties? Will you have results by mid nine on election night? There's a question in there somewhere. Can you answer it?
Hi, Bill, thank you for having me on. Yes, I can answer your questions. We'll start off with the fact that over one hundred and eight thousand voters in Hamilton County have already cast their ballot in this presidential election. Approximately fifty seven thousand of those voters voted early in person at the Board of Elections on around fifty one thousand have already returned their vote by mail ballot.
Do you open up? Let me ask you a question.
The People's judge and I about two weeks ago, sell on our kitchen table and each of us so we took about a half an hour and we voted. Now, when those votes come in and I assume our two ballots will have been counted at some point, explain to me the process. If Tony Benner, who lives in Green Township, sends in an absentee ballot, it goes in the mailbox. In fact, every mailbox in Hamlelton County is a drop box. You can drop your ballot in the mailbox and it
comes into the Board of Elections. Walk through with me what happens to that mail in ballot from the time and arrives in your office to election night.
What happens step by step?
Sure?
Absolutely well.
First off, if a voter wishes to vote by mail, we do not automatically mail ballots in the.
State of Ohio, So a voter has to request a.
Vote by mail ballot by filling out a form submitting it to the Board of Elections. That form must contain the voter's name, addressed data, birth form of ID, and their signature, and it must match what's on file at the Board of Election according to their voter registration. Then we will send the voter a ballot. After the voter votes the ballot, as you know because you've done this,
the ballot goes inside an identification envelope. Again, the voter must confirm their name, their address, a form of ID, and a signature, and the ballot.
Has to be sealed inside that envelope.
If a vote by mail voter wishes to return it by mail for this election, it's a two sheet ballot, so it's a dollar and one cent or two forever stamps. Or the voter can deliver their own ballot to the Board of Elections using our twenty four hour drop box. If a voter is returning a ballot for a family member, they can do that to something a.
Little different this year. They do have to fill out a form basically just.
A testing that they have permission to deliver the ballot for a family member. So then when the ballot, when that vote by mail ballot is returned and receives here at the Board of Elections, our buary partisan teams will examining the identification envelope and compare that information to the voter registration system.
Once again, if it's a.
Match, we remove the ballot and we scan the ballots. We do not count the ballot until the polls close on election night. So right now we're conducting what we call acts of preparation. We're confirming the voter's identity and that they were eligible to cast this vote by mail ballot. We're scanning the ballot. We're storing it inside of a dual walcked room. Wherever we have ballots, they are in a dual locked room. It takes one Republican and one
Democrat to get into that room. And then after the polls close on election night, those vote by mail ballots and the early in person ballots are the very first ballots that are counted again after the polls closed.
Please go ahead, Please go ahead.
We usually can get those absentiers as posted right around eight pm election night.
So let's say Tony Bender and Green Township has voted a mail in ballot to filled out all the forms correctly. There's one envelope inside the other envelope, and then it is sent in and you open it up. You have Democrats Republicans looking ready to go. But Tony Bender says, you know what, I've changed my mind. I don't want to vote the way I voted for Trump or voted for the Democrat. You know, I want to change my
vote for the Supreme Court. I want to change. What If Tony Bender says I changed my mind and I want to vote differently, what happens then?
Yeah, Once he's cast his ballot, he's done. He cannot change his mind and cast a second ballot. As soon as a voter returns that application to request a ballot by mail, the record is flagged, and if they then go to their polling place on election day, they'll be required to cast what we call provisional ballot, same ballot everyone else receives. The only difference is that it's not
counted election night. It's placed in a provisional envelope until teams a bipartisan election officials can verify that the voter did not already cast a ballot in the election. It's how we ensure one voter, one.
Vote, so there's no second chance. If Tony says, man, I really like what Harris is saying. I love that lady, and I voted for Trump and I want to change it too bad.
Yeah.
Yeah, Once it's been cast either by mail or dropped off at the board, same way, when you go to your polling place. Yeah, once it's cast, you can't change your mind. In fact, once it's removed from the envelope, there's no way for US Board of Election officials to tie that ballot back to the voter. That's how we keep the secrecy of the vote. We have no way of tying it back to a voter.
It's a dollar and a penny to mail it. Tony's poor. He puts one little stamp on, doesn't put the extra stamp on, or if forgets the stamp it at all, what happens? If the ballot doesn't have enough postage or no postage, what happens?
Then the the post office does everything they can to get ballots delivered to the Board of Elections.
But our recommendation is, don't take any risks.
Make sure you have the appropriate post edge. And for this election in Hamilton County that would be two forever stamps postage. And I do want to note it differs from county to county. It depends on the number of sheets and the weight of the ballot paper.
Now, how many registered voters are there in Hamilton County, I'm not sure, but I think the numbers about five hundred thousand on my run? How many people are I actually registered to vote?
We actually have a little over six hundred and four one hundred thousand yees, yeah, so a little higher than what you have predicted. We usually hover somewhere around six hundred, a little under six hundred, and it's typical for us to be a little over that market presidential election.
So in the twenty twenty presidential what percent of Hamley County residents actually voted? Of the six hundred and four thousand approximately in twenty twenty, how many actually voted?
We have four hundred thirty I'm sorry, four hundred and thirty four thousand, nine hundred and fifty six ballots cast. That was seventy two percent of the registered voters at that time.
Is that it's not high or low seventy two percent of the presidential.
You know, Hamilton County usually has a pretty good turnout for presidentials. We usually have somewhere between seventy and seventy four percent, and that's what we're expecting this election as.
Well, about seventy seventy to seventy percent. Now, let's say that here we are on Monday afternoon, about one hundred and eight thousand have already voted. Is an equal number going to vote between now and next Monday early Do you anticipate that number will be over two hundred thousand.
I think we're going to.
I don't know if we'll be over two hundred thousand, we will will be close. I think we'll definitely be over one hundred and fifty thousand. Our early in person is just becoming so popular in Hamilton County, and right now we're on track to beat our record that we set in twenty twenty. So in twenty twenty there are over.
Eighty thousand voters who cast their ballots early in person here at the board.
We're already beating that pace with still until Sunday next Sunday to go, So we think we could hit almost one hundred thousand voters just at our early vote center this year.
So if some person wants to go to the nordwod Hamony County Board of Elections and they show up later this afternoon or Tuesday or Wednesday, what is the process? I did it one time just for fun, and I found it very easy. It was friendly, happy. But let's say Tony Bender is on a long bender. He's lost over the weekend, he watched the Bengals play. He was in person. He wided out. He left in the middle of the fourth quarter. It couldn't take it any more,
dragging his Bengal stripes behind him. He said, too much to drink. Wakes up this morning, or probably wakes up Tuesday Wednesday and saying, no, I'm going to go vote. Let's say he drags himself to the Board of Elections.
What happens, Yeah, it's very similar to voting that you're calling place on election day. We will note that our vehicle traffic getting into the Board of Elections is heavy at times. But once you know, we get you and you find a place the park, it's a very quick process to get inside and vote. Again, very similar to election day. The voter needs to announce their name and address to the poll worker and then provide the poll
worker an acceptable form of ID. I do want to note that that's a recent change in Ohio.
He's got no idea, he's got nothing. He's dragging himself in there. He said, I'll give you a year, n example, I'll give you a blood test. I got no idea at all. What happens that Tony Bender.
Well, those things are not necessary. All Tony would have to do is fill out a provisional envelope. I talked a little bit before about a provisional bout. That's a ballot that's not counted election night. It's placed in an envelope where the voter provides the identifying information as far as their name. If they does not have a form of ID, that voter actually has until four days after election day to provide ID to the Board of Elections.
So when he goes into vote he doesn't have ID, he's offered the provisional ballot, it's voted, it's placed in the envelope, it's held into election day. If that voter comes to the Board of Elections by the Saturday after election day, which is November ninth, by five pm, and provides an acceptable form of ID, then his provisional ballot is added to the official count, which occurs about two to three weeks after election day.
So even that and that's what happens down the road before everything is certified. So let's say November fifth runs through without a major problem, and by election night or early in the morning, you have the provisional final count. One are things finally we got all these thousands of provisional ballots. We have other contests to one type or another. When is there a final decision in Hamilton County? This is the final number. How many weeks does that take?
Yeah, it takes a few weeks.
In fact, the Secretary State put all boards of elections in Ohio on an expedited schedule, meaning we are all required to certify by November twentieth. So that's the date that Hamilton County.
Has set to certify this election. I do want to note that in Ohio we have two counts.
We have the election night count, which is the unofficial count, and we keep going election night until we get to one hundred percent precincts reporting.
Then we don't.
Continue a periodic count over the next two weeks. If there's just one additional official count that will occur on the twenties.
What we're doing in that two to three week period is we are.
Verifying the provisionals that are eligible to be added. We also are receiving late rising vote by mail ballots. So as long as a vote by mail ballot is postmarked honor before November fourth and received by Saturday, November ninth, that ballot can also be added to the official count. So we're conducted balloty accounting, we're ensuring that all of the material were returned, we're inspecting them from the polling places, and then we're processing those aptanties in those provisionals.
So that's what's.
Happening during that two week period after election day, and then on the twentieth we will run our official counts and have the certified results of this election.
There's been a lawsuit filed on this. I'm not sure the resolution. Let's say Tony Bender works as a nurse's aid at a nursing home and there's fifty people there that are voting. Either they requested it and they got it, or they somehow not able to get.
Out to go vote.
What is the rule now about shall we say, one person gathering dozens and dozens of ballots and putting them in the ballot in the drop box.
What is the rule on that?
So if you can return a family member's ballot, and you can also return anyone can return a voter with a disability stout that's a little bit different. So for voter with disabilities, they can designate someone other than a family member to return their ballot to the Board of Elections, but that person delivering that ballot has to either come inside or Actually, Hamilton County, we sort of set up a bipartisan team that's outside collecting during our busy hours.
But they have to fill out a form. They have to felt this attestation, swearing and affirming that they returned this.
Particular voter's ballot. So that's what's a little different.
I will note with nursing homes, we work with every nursing home in Hamilton County, and if there's voters who are confined to a nursing home and need assistance in voting, we send a bipartisan team out to that nursing home. And it's a bipartisan sworn election officials that simply do nothing but read the ballot verbatim and then mark the ballot.
So we actually to have election officials that take care of.
That sounds like voter suppression to me, I don't know, it sounds like a lot of suppression going on. Nonetheless, Sherry Poland, thank you. Do you have any questions for me? I've been quizzing you the last twenty minutes or so. Do you have any questions for me about politics, sports, world capitals. Something has confused you over the years. I can help you with.
I think you've answered all my questions.
And how much long are you going to do this? Because I talked to Democrats, talk to Republicans. Sure the best there is. How much more time do you have left to serve? And are you Are you proud about what you've done at Hamilty County Board of Elections.
I'm I'm so proud of the bipartisan team that we have here at the Board of Elections.
I really am.
It's something that's pretty incredible to watch. It's Democrats and Republicans who put their politics aside when they come here to work because we just focus on a common goal that we all have and not the administering a free and fire election. So I'm extremely proud to be a part of this team.
Well, with your permission, maybe next week I'll check in, But right now, one hundred and eight thousand voted fifty seven thousand, early fifty in person, and you anticipate a turnout, you might get to two hundred thousand, but probably not close to that. And in the last election, seventy two percent voted in twenty twenty. You hope to get closed for more than that number in twenty twenty four. Sherry Poland, once again, you're the best of what you do. And
thank you for coming on the Bill Cunningham Show. And if you thought about controlling the Bengals, would you consider becoming the general manager of the Bengals if offered.
That is not my area of expertise.
Nor is it Mike Brown's area of expertise. So that's a bigger problem. But nonetheless, Sherry Poland, once again, thank you for coming on the Bill Cunningham Show.
And God bless you, thank you, Sherry, thank.
You, thank you, thank you for having me.
All right, let's continue with more.
She got to control the Reds and the Bengals, put them all together, general manager. Let's have some victories around this place. And is Carson Palmer's ghost in the body now of Joe Burrow? I don't want to be negative. You know me better than that. Bill Cunningham News Radio seven hundreds WLW.
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