Political News

Political News
Hailey Hurowitz
10/22/12
1A

   Ohio Country Gets Election Date Wrong


Obama and Romney are both really focusing their attention on the critical swing state of Ohio, officials in the northeastern county of Ottawa discovered late last week that they had sent out 2,200 notices telling voters that election day was Thursday, Nov. 8, instead of the actual date, Tuesday, November 6.  The Associated Press reported that Carol Ann Hill, deputy director of the county's Board of Elections, said 7 percent of the 30,000 registered voters in the county were mailed incorrect postcards. Hill added that the relatively small percentage "doesn't make it any better."  The notice also included an incorrect listing for the location of a polling place. Election board director JoAnn Friar, a Republican, blamed the mistake on a computer glitch and told the Washington Post that new notices would be sent out to the voters affected. The county is on Lake Erie near Toledo and voted 52 percent for Barack Obama in 2008.  The Democrats quickly attacked the elections board for the mistake.  Ohio is not the only state where county officials have gotten the election date wrong.  Offcials in Maricopa County, Arizona, mistakenly listed the general election date as November 8 in the Spanish translation of an "official government document" given to around 50 voters.