COLUMBUS, Ohio – Voters in Ohio head to the polls Tuesday morning to choose members of local city councils and school boards, fill judicial seats and decide the fate of nearly 1,700 local issues, including a major bond issue requested by the City of Columbus and a levy increase for the Columbus City Schools.
Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Ohioans will vote on 1,678 local issues, 194 of which are school issues, according to Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office.
Columbus voters will see a school levy and four city bond issues, which will not raise taxes and will help pay for infrastructure and parks improvements.
The 9-mill levy request is paired with a proposal to create an independent auditor for the city’s school district, which is still reeling from a data-scrubbing scandal and is under investigation by the Auditor of State and the FBI.
The levy would increase the property tax on a $100,000 home by approximately $315. Supporters, including Mayor Michael Coleman, say the additional money is needed to upgrade technology in classrooms, fund pre-kindergarten education and hire and train teachers. More than $8 million of the money raised is earmarked for high-performing charter schools.
Opponents of the levy say its objectives are too vague and the district has failed to account for money acquired through previous levies. Data-scrubbing – which consisted of altering student attendance records to improve the district’s performance on state achievement tests – has further undermined the board’s credibility.
Although the levy has been the subject of a media campaign, voters do not seem to be mobilized to vote for or against it, if the number of requests for absentee ballots during the early-voting period is any indication. Fewer than 14,000 voters requested absentee ballots out of more than 346,000 registered voters in the Columbus City Schools and 510,000 registered in the city, Franklin County Board of Elections spokesman Ben Piscitelli said. He says more than 21,000 voters requested absentee ballots during the early voting period that ended Saturday, about a quarter as many as in 2011.
Upper Arlington has a school levy as well. City income tax increases are before voters in Gahanna and Reynoldsburg. Bexley and Worthington have library levies. There are two charter issues in Whitehall.
Township and village ballots throughout the county will list issues about fire protection, road maintenance, zoning and energy purchasing programs. Liquor options also will be on local ballots.
There are no countywide issues on the ballot in this election.
Voters will need to show identification to cast a regular ballot. Acceptable forms include an Ohio driver’s license or government document-other than one from the board of elections-showing the voter’s current name and address. Pay stubs and utility bills with current name and address are also valid.