$20 Million Study Launches to Help Improve Mental Illness Issues in Ohio

 

The state of Ohio is embarking on a decade-long study to better understand the root causes of mental illness, substance use disorders, and suicide. 

 

The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is providing a $20 million grant to fund the State of Ohio Action for the Resiliency (SOAR) study, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced during a press conference Friday. 

 

“Currently, there’s a lot that we don’t know and the SOAR study is a huge step forward in advancing our understanding of mental health and substance use disorders,” said Ohio State University President Ted Carter. “This study will provide key data that will shape the future of mental health across Ohio and beyond.”

 

“There’s nobody that is not affected by this,” Carter said. “There’s somebody that you know in your family, your community, your neighborhood that is affected by this.”

 

The study will go for at least a decade with the hope it will continue for decades to come and will look at generations of families from all across Ohio who are affected by mental illness and substance abuse disorders, DeWine said. Funding for the SOAR study comes from the state’s two-year operating budget. 

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/20-million-study-launches-to-help-improve-mental-illness-issues-in-ohio-ocj1/

Can Felons Run For Office? The Debate Comes Home to Ohio

 

In Erie County, former state lawmaker Steven Kraus is challenging Rep. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, for the GOP nomination in Ohio’s 89th House district. But an Ohio Supreme Court challenge is trying to kick Kraus off the ballot. He was convicted of felony theft in 2015 which is a disqualifying offense under state law. Kraus contends that because he got that conviction sealed, he should be allowed to hold public office.

 

Dennis Schreiner, a township trustee who brought the court challenge, lodged a similar complaint with the Erie County Board of Elections in December. The board, however, sidestepped the issue when it met to certify candidates later that month.

 

“So, the question today is did Steve (Kraus) submit sufficient petitions with enough valid signatures to put them on the ballot in March,” board director Alex Jones explained. “It is the opinion of the staff after review that he has.”

 

“The challenge, or the protest, is I think a separate question, which is, is Mr. Kraus qualified to hold the office?” Jones added.

 

The board met again earlier this month to consider Schreiner’s protest. After hearing from both sides, they voted 4-0 to deny Schreiner’s protest, clearing the way for Kraus to appear on the primary ballot.

 

In court filings, Schreiner argues the board “abused it’s discretion” by certifying Kraus despite his past conviction. He’s urged the Ohio Supreme Court to issue a writ of prohibition, to keep Kraus out of the contest.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/can-felons-run-for-office-the-debate-comes-home-to-ohio-ocj1/

Who else was counting the words until the letters "GOP" or -R appeared?

Flavored Vapes & Menthol Cigarettes Could be Returning to Shelves in Columbus

 

The Ohio Senate voted to override two of Gov. Mike DeWine’s vetoes Wednesday — one on a bill blocking gender-affirming care for trans youth and the other blocking cities from banning flavored tobacco sales. Both laws are now set to take effect at the end of April.  

 

The Senate voted 24-8 to override DeWine’s veto of a provision that would prevent cities from banning flavored tobacco sales. A flavored tobacco ban took effect in Columbus earlier this month after Columbus City Council voted to stop the sale of flavored tobacco products in December 2022.

 

“It will be a win for big tobacco and it will be a loss for Ohio,” DeWine said before the vote Wednesday.

 

A three-fifths majority vote from the members of the House and Senate is necessary to override the governor’s veto. The Ohio House voted to override HB 68 earlier this month and voted to override the flavored tobacco ban in December.

 

State Sen. Nathan Manning of North Ridgeville was the only Republican to vote against overriding the Republican governor on the gender-affirming care ban, and state Sen. Louis Blessing of Colerain Township was the sole Republican to vote against overriding DeWine on the tobacco law.

 

The laws are set to go into effect 90 days after they are delivered to the Secretary of State’s office, meaning it would likely take effect April 23.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/flavored-vapes-menthol-cigarettes-could-be-returning-to-shelves-in-columbus-ocj1/

Report: Ohio Prosecuted Over 200 HIV-Related Crimes Last Decade

 

A new report from two Ohio organizations shows more than 200 cases of “HIV-related prosecutions” in Ohio.

 

Researchers from Equality Ohio and the Ohio Health Modernization Movement looked at data from 2014 to 2020 to analyze six statutes still in Ohio law “that criminalize or create penalty enhancements for people living with HIV.”

 

In dissecting the 214 cases, researchers found geographical and racial disparities in the data, with more than 26% of identified cases happening in Cuyahoga County, and 35.9% of defendants charged identifying as Black, a far cry from the 12.5% of Ohioans identifying as “Black alone” in the 2020 census.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/report-ohio-prosecuted-over-200-hiv-related-crimes-last-decade-ocj1/

 

Should Ohio Raise the Cigarette Tax?

 

Ohio has the fourth-highest rate of cigarette smoking in the United States, bringing with it all the expenses associated with the sickness and disability caused by smoking. But how to most effectively bring that rate down is a matter of some debate, according to a survey of a panel of Ohio economists that was released last week.

 

About one-fifth (20.8%) of residents of the Buckeye State still smoked as of 2019, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s much higher than the 11.5% national average the agency reported for 2021.

 

Across the country, rates of smoking have fallen steeply as states have imposed steeper taxes on them — from 20.9% in 2005 to 11.5% in 2021. In Ohio, policy makers are searching for ways to keep up.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/should-ohio-raise-the-cigarette-tax-ocj1/

Ohio has both high ADHD and blue-collar job rates. Traditional ADHD treatments revolve around methamphetamines but those are often unsuitable for older patients due to their effects on blood pressure. Newer treatments in development revolve around nicotine (obviously not in cigarette or vape forms) and it could be why Ohio's cigarette use rate is so high since nicotine may well soothe ADHD symptoms. I haven't examined marijuana's effects on ADHD so there could be some hope there for diagnosed individuals when rec becomes fully available. Of course the other classic states for bad stuff like KY, WV, AL, MS and LA are worse in ADHD diagnoses but our smoking rate has to be higher than at least two of them.

It looks like Jason Stevens will remain Speaker next term - only four of his supporters lost their primaries yesterday. That said, it’s going to be REALLY close. The thinking was that Stevens could afford to lose 4-6 supporters and still keep his seat. There will be significant pressure on his supporters to flip. 
 

 

This makes it much less likely that the perpetrators of the largest scandal in Ohio’s history will be held accountable. Hopefully enough other evidence exists.

 

“I can independently confirm, via Franklin County Coroner's office, that Sam Randazzo was found dead from apparent suicide around noon today (4/9). He was 74.

He has been accused of taking a $4.3 million bribe as chairman of the PUCO, and was facing state and federal charges”

 

Greater Cincinnati lawmakers propose a way to get more homes built

 

Two Greater Cincinnati lawmakers have introduced legislation in the Ohio House of Representatives with the goal of building more homes throughout the state by incentivizing local governments to adopt housing-friendly policies and zoning changes.

 

State Reps. Dani Isaacsohn, D-Over-the-Rhine, and Adam Mathews, R-Lebanon, unveiled the bill Tuesday, April 16, at the statehouse in Columbus.

...

The 12 ‘pro-housing’ policies

• Adopting a policy to speed up permitting by 20%
• Have a preapproval process in place to expedite the review and grant permits for a diverse range of developers
• Decreasing or subsidizing the cost of water or sewer connections for major workforce housing projects, those that have at least 20 units and are for households earning between 60% and 100% of the area median income
• Acquiring and preparing sites that are ready to be financed and built upon by developers
• Having no minimum parking requirements for developments that include residential units
• Having a 10-year housing plan that tracks the needs, gaps and potential strategies for boosting housing across all income levels
• Having policies to preserve existing moderate and low-income housing
• Allowing accessory dwelling units
• Allowing fourplex housing in at least 75% of a township or city
• Reduce the portion of a city or township that is zoned only for single-family use by at least 50% compared with 10 years ago
• Incentivize density for developers who provide low-income housing and workforce housing in Census tracts that are at or above the area median income
• Provide incentives for modular housing.

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/04/17/isaacsohn-mathews-housing-bill-ohio-legislature.html

 

New bill introduced in Ohio House could solve childcare, worker crisis

 

New legislation was introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives last week that aims to solve the childcare crisis in Ohio, reports our news partners at Dayton 24/7 Now. The other goal of the bill is to increase and enhance Ohio's workforce.

 

The bill is centered around childcare, and it aims to boost public-private partnerships by providing state grants to employers.

 

State Rep. Andrea White (R-Kettering) is one of the leaders who is developing the bill. White explained how childcare and the workforce are connected.

 

"It's no secret that Ohio is having a substantial childcare crisis, and this, in turn, means that this is a workforce crisis and it's also stunting our economic growth because employers need access to workers. Workers need access to childcare," White said.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2024/04/17/childcare-workforce.html

Ohio Republicans Want to Reform Social Security and other Benefit Programs

 

During the primary campaign, Kevin Coughlin — now the Republican nominee for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District — committed to pursuing entitlement reform if he’s elected.

 

“And I know the Democrats are cheering right now that they’re hearing me say that,” Coughlin said. He argued “anyone with eyes and an honest heart” can understand the simple math problem — money is going out the door faster than it’s getting replaced. Coughlin wants to address waste, fraud and abuse to close the gap, rather than cutting benefits. But independent experts doubt there’s enough mismanagement in the programs to balance the books.

 

Coughlin specifically referenced Social Security and Medicaid, which provides health care for people with lower incomes. But Medicare, which provides health care for seniors and some people with disabilities, is typically included in debates about entitlement reform.

 

Recent projections from the U.S. Treasury indicate the Social Security and Medicare trust funds will become insolvent in 2034 and 2031 respectively.

 

“(They’re) going to go broke very, very quickly, which isn’t going to mean that (programs are) going to go away, but it’s going to mean that the benefits that people get are going to be cut,” Coughlin argued.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-republicans-want-to-reform-social-security-and-other-benefit-programs-ocj1/

 

Ohio Participating in the Fight Against Ticketmaster & Live Nation

 

The Biden Justice Department, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and a bipartisan group of 29 state attorneys general are accusing the company that owns Ticketmaster and Live Nation of violating federal antitrust law.

 

The company is already well known for insulting customers by labeling its steep ticket charges “convenience fees,” but the suit seeks to undo a merger that was cleared just 14 years ago.

 

Filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York, the suit accuses Live Nation Entertainment of using its dominance of several parts of the entertainment business to set itself up as a huge middleman, jacking up prices while starving the artists patrons are paying to see. The suit accuses the company of using its dominant ownership of the most desirable concert venues, its ticket-selling platform, and its concert-promotion business to lock artists and patrons into its services and to lock competitors out of the picture altogether.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-participating-in-the-fight-against-ticketmaster-amp-live-nation-ocj1/

11 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

Ohio Participating in the Fight Against Ticketmaster & Live Nation

 

The Biden Justice Department, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and a bipartisan group of 29 state attorneys general are accusing the company that owns Ticketmaster and Live Nation of violating federal antitrust law.

 

The company is already well known for insulting customers by labeling its steep ticket charges “convenience fees,” but the suit seeks to undo a merger that was cleared just 14 years ago.

 

Filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York, the suit accuses Live Nation Entertainment of using its dominance of several parts of the entertainment business to set itself up as a huge middleman, jacking up prices while starving the artists patrons are paying to see. The suit accuses the company of using its dominant ownership of the most desirable concert venues, its ticket-selling platform, and its concert-promotion business to lock artists and patrons into its services and to lock competitors out of the picture altogether.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-participating-in-the-fight-against-ticketmaster-amp-live-nation-ocj1/

 

Meanwhile the ticket fees will go away, and the ticket prices will go up.  It's the industry's dirty little secret that the artist takes most of the ticket money, and the higher level artists take most of those fees as well.   

 

Suggested reading: 

 

https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2024/05/22/live-nation-doj/

 

 

GOP Initiative to Keep Foreign Money out of Ohio Politics Doesn’t Work as Intended

 

In exchange for putting a sitting president on the state ballot, Ohio’s Republican leadership this week demanded that Democrats agree to a measure Republicans said would protect ballot initiatives from foreign money.

 

However, the measures would do nothing to bring transparency to politically active 501(c)(4) “dark money” groups into which foreigners, corporations — even criminal organizations — can contribute unlimited cash without the general public being any the wiser. 

 

Two such organizations — one of which was founded by a future aide to Gov. Mike DeWine — funded the biggest bribery scandal in Ohio history. And many of the same politicians who now are warning of foreign money are ducking questions about massive support they received from those groups and company that funded them as they took actions that helped further the company’s interests.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/gop-initiative-to-keep-foreign-money-out-of-ohio-politics-doesnt-work-as-intended/

 

Antiquated Ohio Laws Still Target HIV Patients

 

Medical professionals and health advocates are seeing progress in a longstanding effort to remove Ohio laws that they say unduly target those with HIV.

 

The laws, many of which were created in the 1990s, are in need of reform because of the evolution of the science and medical treatment for HIV, according to members of the Ohio Health Modernization Movement, a coalition which has been working for years to update the laws. Not only does current legislation rely on outdated science, but it also furthers stigma surrounding the disease, the group says.

 

“What people really lose is the humanity of it, in that these are individuals who sometimes don’t have control over their situation,” said Nate Albright, an infectious disease nurse practitioner, predoctoral fellow at The Ohio State University and a director-at-large for the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/antiquated-ohio-laws-still-target-hiv-patients-ocj1/

Lawmakers Want More Regulations Around “Pregnancy Centers” in Ohio

 

A new Ohio bill would take aim at facilities not regulated by the state but receive millions in state funding to promote “pregnancy and parenting.”

 

Democratic state Reps. Anita Somani, D-Dublin, and Michele Grim, D-Toledo, brought House Bill 565 to the chamber’s Finance Committee on Tuesday, in hopes “guaranteed standards and a certain quality of care is met for every person who enters a pregnancy and parenting center in our state,” according to Grim.

 

“The goal of this bill is to ensure that crisis pregnancy centers are using state funds to provide medical care, proper assistance to expectant and new mothers, and medically accurate information,” Somani told the committee.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/lawmakers-want-more-regulations-around-pregnancy-centers-in-ohio-ocj1/

Ohio House Passes Multiple Bills Before Summer Break

 

The Ohio House passed a slew of bills during a marathon session on Wednesday before going on summer break. 

 

Enact Campus Act

 

The Enact Campus Act bill (House Bill 606) was woven into Senate Bill 94 earlier this week during House Finance Committee. State Sens. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, and Al Landis, R-Dover, introduced S.B. 94, which passed in the House with a 80-13 vote. The Senate concurred on S.B. 94, meaning the bill will go to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk for his signature. 

 

State Reps. Justin Pizzulli, R-Scioto County, and Dontavius Jarrells, D-Columbus, introduced the Enact Campus Act in response to the recent rise in antisemitic incidents on college campuses last school year after the start of the Israel-Hamas war. 

 

“We want to make sure that we are creating an environment where every student — no matter who they are, who they pray to, what ethnicity or religious background they have — have the best opportunity to learn and to live and be on campuses and be spaces of community … and really learn from each other about the various religious and cultural differences we all have,” Jarrells said. 

 

Way more below:

https://columbusunderground.com/ohio-house-passes-multiple-bills-before-summer-break-ocj1/

 

Healthcare a Top Issue for Ohioans in November

 

So many issues are up for debate as the November general election approaches, but polling of voters and observations by advocacy groups show that health care access is high on the list of issues motivating voters in Ohio and elsewhere this election season.

 

The national advocacy group Protect Our Care, which focuses on health care policy, has said expanded Medicaid coverage, pre-existing condition protections, preventive care and other things covered under the Affordable Care Act could change depending on how the elections go in November. The fact that health care access can be legislated federally and at the state level, along with being the subject of lawsuits that make it up to the U.S. Supreme Court, means elected officials at all levels of government impact the health care landscape of the country and state.

 

“It may not feel existential like the climate does, but if you’re a diabetic, it feels very existential,” said Leslie Dach, chair of Protect Our Care.

 

More below:

https://columbusunderground.com/healthcare-a-top-issue-for-ohioans-in-november-ocj1/

 

 

 

Ohio residents, as you consider your campaign contributions this election season, remember that the Harris Presidential campaign will likely have all the money it needs, so it’s much more important to make down ballot donations. And Ohio has an interesting tax law regarding campaign donations: “Ohio law allows a state income tax credit for monetary contributions made to the campaign committee of a candidate for statewide office or member of the General Assembly up to an annual limit of $50 for single filers and $100 for joint filers.” This is a full tax CREDIT - in other words, you can choose to give $50/$100 of your tax dollars to a candidate instead of the state. I’m thinking the Ohio Supreme Court races are arguably the most important. Do you really want the Court that decided boneless wings can have bones interpreting our new abortion and redistricting amendments, not to mention the marijuana law?

On 1/6/2023 at 10:17 AM, Boomerang_Brian said:

Alaska is instant runoff, and that has resulted in Alaska having a MUCH better Representative (Peltola) than they otherwise would have. NY is RCV in primary. NY screwed up. If RCV doesn’t eliminate the party primary it was implemented incorrectly, period. 
 

Regarding how it relates to direct democracy initiatives- I was pointing out that properly implemented RCV can reduce the number of poor-turnout elections, thus improving turnout. 

There's a lot of drama in Alaska land lately vis a vis RCV, it's actually up for repeal. The current jungle primary for their house seat once again elected two Republicans, and one Democrat. However, this time to avoid a repeat, Begich (R) promised to drop out if he was third; he instead got second, and the other Republican bowed to pressure and dropped out. Now it's effectively a two way race, with the other two candidates not thought to have a reasonable chance. 

 

While my position has been that RCV (IRV) was an improvement over the current system and should be used as a stepping stone to actually good methods of voting, I now think that RCV should just be leapfrogged, only some form of score based voting will successfully reform our political system, preferably STAR based voting. RCV just has too many counting problems and irregularities on the back end to be sustainable. The fact that the order of elimination can make all the difference is its hamartia. It's easy to imagine a situation where the candidate eliminated first would almost certainly win if any other candidate was eliminated first (indeed that was almost certainly the case in Pelota's race in 2022).

49 minutes ago, Ethan said:

There's a lot of drama in Alaska land lately vis a vis RCV, it's actually up for repeal. The current jungle primary for their house seat once again elected two Republicans, and one Democrat. However, this time to avoid a repeat, Begich (R) promised to drop out if he was third; he instead got second, and the other Republican bowed to pressure and dropped out. Now it's effectively a two way race, with the other two candidates not thought to have a reasonable chance. 

 

While my position has been that RCV (IRV) was an improvement over the current system and should be used as a stepping stone to actually good methods of voting, I now think that RCV should just be leapfrogged, only some form of score based voting will successfully reform our political system, preferably STAR based voting. RCV just has too many counting problems and irregularities on the back end to be sustainable. The fact that the order of elimination can make all the difference is its hamartia. It's easy to imagine a situation where the candidate eliminated first would almost certainly win if any other candidate was eliminated first (indeed that was almost certainly the case in Pelota's race in 2022).

I’m not sure if you noticed the date on my post you quoted - this one is a bit of a flashback. I think you were the one who had posted the STAR voting method back then, and I like that system. I agree with the critique of RCV regarding counting challenges. 

 

 

3 hours ago, KJP said:

 

 

Welp I guess we've finally made it.   We're finally a REAL red state!   Go Ohio! 

5 hours ago, KJP said:

 

 

 

Ohio is a lot more Appalachian, population wise, than people think.  Stubborn folks, especially men, who avoid doctors whenever possible, exacerbated by limited facilities (likely a chicken and egg scenario).   There's similar mindsets in the inner city to go along with the drugs.   

 

This isn't really something that can be solved through politics.   The type of assertive, often intrusive government actions that might be thought to make a difference will be vehemently resisted by both these groups.

8 minutes ago, E Rocc said:

 

Ohio is a lot more Appalachian, population wise, than people think.  Stubborn folks, especially men, who avoid doctors whenever possible, exacerbated by limited facilities (likely a chicken and egg scenario).   There's similar mindsets in the inner city to go along with the drugs.   

 

This isn't really something that can be solved through politics.   The type of assertive, often intrusive government actions that might be thought to make a difference will be vehemently resisted by both these groups.

 

There's not a drug problem in Appalachia? 

 

There's a pretty strong correlation between health outcomes and control of state government. Medicaid expansion would help with the lack of rural health facilities, for example...

13 minutes ago, Luke_S said:

 

There's not a drug problem in Appalachia? 

 

There's a pretty strong correlation between health outcomes and control of state government. Medicaid expansion would help with the lack of rural health facilities, for example...

I'm really impressed with what Ohio Senator JD Vance has been able to accomplish to address drug abuse problems in Ohio. it certainly was at the top of his agenda during the campaign. 

 

EYEROLL. 

2 hours ago, Luke_S said:

 

There's not a drug problem in Appalachia? 

 

 

I could go down to Appalachia right now and score anything I want. I can't do that in the city.

14 minutes ago, GCrites said:

 

I could go down to Appalachia right now and score anything I want. I can't do that in the city.

Well, what are you waiting for?

17 minutes ago, GCrites said:

 

I could go down to Appalachia right now and score anything I want. I can't do that in the city.

 

You don't know where to look in the city, then.

 

Of course there is a drug problem in Appalachia but I would say it's more the stubbornness than the drugs, while in the cities it's the other way around.

Appalachian Ohio is far worse for drugs than any Ohio city.  It's a drug problem AND a stubbornness issue in Appalachia.  Ask Portsmouth.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8276036/#:~:text=Among Appalachian states%2C Ohio has,2017 (6%2C7).

Calling Doctor Procter

I grew up in Clermont County, technically Appalachia but just barely. I graduated from high school in 1997, in a tiny class of little more than 125 or so. Though I lived on what would be consider the edge of suburban Cincinnati, my school district was huge, mostly rural/farm country with a few small struggling towns.

Just from posts I've seen on former classmate's Facebook pages, I can think of at least a dozen people I went to school with who are no more. Reading between the lines (even when the cause is not explicitly posted), these seem primarily to have been opioid/addiction related - with a big spike around the time fentanyl became a thing. I don't know how common it is to not make it to (or past) your mid-40's, but it feels like a lot.

Got a flyer in the mail saying my polling place has been moved from the walkable place it had been for years to another spot where almost everyone will have to drive. I know the old building needed a lot of work but it worked fine as a polling place. It doesn't need to be demoed but the city wants to expand a parking lot.

This new polling place is ass. This is my 3rd Presidential election at my current address and at the old polling place it never took more than 15 minutes. It's going to take at least and hour. If nothing changes next year I'm going to mail it in. Lines at early voting seem to as long or longer.

4 hours ago, GCrites said:

This new polling place is ass. This is my 3rd Presidential election at my current address and at the old polling place it never took more than 15 minutes. It's going to take at least and hour. If nothing changes next year I'm going to mail it in. Lines at early voting seem to as long or longer.

It was real bad this morning, at least an hour for each of us to vote --- she went at open, I went closer to 9:30. Curious if they consolidated spots or something because nothing about the layout could possibly impact timing that much. I'm certainly not blaming the workers --- the folks at checkin were getting voters through in record time --- but man, was it ever slow. Maybe the lesson is 10 machines isn't enough for an area the size of Groveport in a presidential year.

2 minutes ago, Zordon Shumway said:

It was real bad this morning, at least an hour for each of us to vote --- she went at open, I went closer to 9:30. Curious if they consolidated spots or something because nothing about the layout could possibly impact timing that much. I'm certainly not blaming the workers --- the folks at checkin were getting voters through in record time --- but man, was it ever slow. Maybe the lesson is 10 machines isn't enough for an area the size of Groveport in a presidential year.

 

I voted in Groveport as well. Got there at about 7:45 and didn't get back in my car until 8:45. When I left, the line was even longer than when I had arrived. The poll workers seemed to have things moving very efficiently. I think it was as simple as turnout being extremely high for the number of machines available at the site. 

 

5 hours ago, GCrites said:

This new polling place is ass. This is my 3rd Presidential election at my current address and at the old polling place it never took more than 15 minutes. It's going to take at least and hour. If nothing changes next year I'm going to mail it in. Lines at early voting seem to as long or longer.

 

Where was the old polling location? 

The old polling location was Kids Space, back behind Birch Tavern and the old Little Italy's. Tiny little thing, but it did it's job just fine --- I collected something like 15 years of voting stickers at that little cinderblock box.

And that one had only 4-5 machines. I'm pretty sure there was a second polling place previously as well, maybe somewhere like the Lutheran church? When I was a kid it was at Glendenning Elementary. I remember seeing the voting machines being put in the hallways days before a big levy around the time of the teachers' strike.

Edited November 5, 2024Nov 5 by GCrites

Hmmm, now did I vote in person in 2020 now that I think about it? I remember mailing in the primary ballot because you had to but did the main 2020 election have in-person voting? And if it did COVID concerns likely led to a lot of mail-in.

I don't know the numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are fewer poll workers than ever considering how potentially toxic or dangerous the job could become. We've all seen a few videos from this year at early voting locations. Now multiply that by all the election day spots voters head out to.

1 hour ago, TheCOV said:

I don't know the numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are fewer poll workers than ever considering how potentially toxic or dangerous the job could become. We've all seen a few videos from this year at early voting locations. Now multiply that by all the election day spots voters head out to.

The Groveport location was very well staffed and everyone was very well behaved, at least when I was there. There were just too many voters. 

Yeah it was a lack of machines and space in this case. The room wasn't super big and people were really jammed in there.

1 hour ago, GCrites said:

Yeah it was a lack of machines and space in this case. The room wasn't super big and people were really jammed in there.

They do have space in the room to add at least 4 more machines, maybe even 6. Hopefully they can manage to do that for the next presidential election. 
 

Meanwhile millions (yes millions) of eligible voters, both registered and unregistered, sit on the sidelines. It's an indictment of the Democratic Party that this is the case...

 

 

 

If Redfern wrote that book, I'd be one of the first to buy it.

I think we all would. He knows where the "bodies are buried."

1 hour ago, KJP said:

Meanwhile millions (yes millions) of eligible voters, both registered and unregistered, sit on the sidelines. It's an indictment of the Democratic Party that this is the case...

 

 

 

The reason there were so many Dems in state executive roles in 2010 is because GW Bush and the Republicans collapsed the economy and voters (rightfully) punished Republicans for it. Historically it has been very rare for Democrats to have significant power in Ohio.