Putnam Board of Elections moving offices
Dominic Adams - Aug. 10, 2006

OTTAWA — Cramped quarters has forced the Putnam County Board of Elections to find a new and larger location.

Director Ginger Price asked the Putnam County commissioners to move into the Annex Building.

The building, at 336 E. Main St., houses the Putnam County Women, Infants and Children program, the American Red Cross and the Putnam County Educational Service Center.

"We have a space problem with the new equipment that was brought in," Price said. "We have to stand them all out in the hallway to test them and it just wasn’t secure."

Board of Elections uses two offices in the Putnam County Courthouse. When the new Putnam County Educational Service Center Skilled Learning Center opens in August, the ESC will vacate the office.

Price said they would be able to share the office with the Red Cross, however, WIC would need to relocate.

Putnam County’s 138 computerized voting machines have to be stored in a certain place, Commissioner Tom Price said.

"These things have to be stored in a secure area and they have to be climate controlled," he said.

Courthouse space is at a premium, Commissioner Vincent Schroeder said.

"One problem is they’re using two main offices on the first floor of the courthouse and we told them that was going to be temporary," he said. "We’re trying to make it more secure."

Schroeder said the Putnam County Common Pleas Court also has asked commissioners for more space.

Board of Elections also was featured in Government Technology magazine.

In July, the publication discussed how the county’s use of Geo-Elections WebTools made managing elections easier.

"It's kind of nice Putnam County gets to be first for a change," Ginger Price said. "I was thrilled to be featured in the magazine."

Putnam County is the first in Ohio to put ballots for different municipalities on the Web.

Ballots can be printed out and prevents elections officials from having to run off copies.

"They can go ahead and vote and they can take that with them (to the polls)," Ginger Price said. "Hopefully it would speed things up a little bit."

Visit http://putnam.noacsc.org/county/ for voting information.