Thousands of Mahoning County voters receive late absentee ballots

Mahoning County Board of Elections Deputy Director Tom McCabe said 16,500 Mahoning County voters are receiving their absentee ballot roughly 10 days late. 

The delay was caused by a printing company Mahoning County worked with called Midwest Direct, which failed to keep up with the high demand of absentee voters. 

Midwest Direct worked with 16 counties in Ohio, impacting a total of 2.4 million voters. Mahoning County cut ties with the company and is now processing ballots in house. 

"We're hoping by the end of the week, most voters are going to have their ballots," McCabe said, "We're very confident that bringing this back in house and not using the third-party vendor has been working out well for us at this point."

As of October 16, McCabe said all remaining ballots were sent out.

Trumbull County Board of Elections also works with Midwest Direct, but claims they have not had issues or a delay.

Both Boards of Elections officials said if any voter is worried about receiving their absentee ballot on time, it's important to have a plan.

Voters can call and request a secondary absentee ballot and then return the original, late ballot to the board of elections office when they receive it to be voided.

McCabe reminds voters they can also cast their ballot early in-person, or curb-side if they have health concerns.