On the evening of December 6 it was snowing intensely at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, located in Cleveland, Ohio. Regardless of the inclement weather, Secretary of State-elect, Frank LaRose, attended his appointment with officials of the Board of Elections.
They were waiting for him anxiously to be able to share their ideas to make upcoming electoral processes accessible and much more successful than it in the November elections of this year. This was the first of many visits Senator LaRose will be a making around the State’s 88 jurisdictions as he prepares to take office. As Secretary of State, his powers will include control over many aspects of election administration.
The November 6, 2018 General Election culminated with a historic 52.9% voter turnout. The veteran Senator offered his congratulations to the election officials for the fluidity with which the electoral processes ran, from the absentee voting to Election Day. He spoke extensively with each of the department managers about initiatives that would substantially improve access to vote prior to Election Day.
Some of the proposals positively affect Spanish-speaking voters. It was suggested that there should be more clarity in the forms that are used to register voters. He was asked to create state issued bilingual voter educational materials. Right now only the Cuyahoga County and the Lorain County Boards of Elections provides all voting materials in Spanish and English. The incoming Secretary of State agreed with the officials on the viability of these measures. If implemented, there is hope that a deeper understanding of the voting process will encourage the Latino community to participate in the democratic process.
Remember that at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, we speak Spanish. We will keep you up to date with all the most important electoral information, such as deadlines, voting locations, sample ballots, and more. Follow us:
- Facebook: CuyahogaBOE Hispano Vota
- Twitter: @CuyahogaBOESP
- Our website in Spanish: https://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/es-US/home.aspx.
By: Elia Burgos, Latino Community Outreach Coordinator, Cuyahoga County Board of Elections