ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Board of Elections is preparing for the special election on Aug. 8 by ordering ballots and hiring poll workers.

“We ordered extra ballot stock recently. We have 10,000 ballots stocked already for this election. Just in case, we ordered an additional 5,000, so we should have enough,” Aaron Moore, director, said.

Moore said leftover ballots can be used in any other future election.

“I didn’t really think we needed it (the additional 5,000 ballots), but I thought as long as we can use it for the next year or the next election in November, let’s get in now and have it just in case,” Moore said.

The board is working with the post office so that it is only charged for absentee ballot return envelopes once they are mailed back.

“It would save us some funds. Instead of being charged for all of them, we would only be charged now when they actually mail it back,” Moore said.

Moore said that the post office is still working to get the issue resolved.

“We’re going to talk to them again tomorrow and see what we need to do to get this done and get this moving forward because there is something that needs to be put on the return envelope,” Moore said.

Moore said the board is still looking for poll workers for the August election. The board is also scheduling poll training for two weeks in July.

The board is scheduling four poll workers per voting location. Moore said the board has scheduled three workers per location in the past, but they had problems when people called off or needed to change their schedule. Moore said he wants at least three workers at each location at all times, so by hiring four workers one can call off if needed.

Moore said he wants everyone, even people who have worked the polls in the past, to get retrained for this election because the identification requirements have changed. The new law requires voters to prove their identity with photo identification when casting a ballot in person.

Moore also discussed personal protective equipment for the next election. The board plans to send one bottle of hand sanitizer, a pack of wipes and one box of masks to every polling location. In the past, the board has provided gloves, face shields and gowns to guard the poll workers against COVID-19, but Moore said that the workers did not use the items and he would like to cut back for this election.

“We were thinking of pulling back for this election and maybe future elections depending on what things look like in November,” he said.

Moore would also like to cut back on the sneeze guards placed at every precinct table but leave the sneeze guards at the check-in tables.

The Belmont County Board of Elections will hold its next meeting at 4 p.m. July 10 at the office in St. Clairsville.

The voter registration deadline for the special election is July 10 and Election Day is Aug. 8 with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The general election is on Nov. 7, and people must register to vote by Oct. 10.

For more information, call 740-526-0188, email Belmont@ohiosos.gov or visit the Belmont County Board of Elections website at boe.ohio.gov/belmont. The office is located at 52180 National Road in St. Clairsville and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.