Voting machines not an issue in Cuyahoga Falls on Election Day

Some Summit County poll workers were experiencing difficulties Tuesday handling new equipment, a Summit County Board of Elections official said.

But, he said, voting has not been affected.

Deputy Director Pete Zeigler said no machines malfunctioned, clarifying earlier reports, and said poll workers' unfamiliarity with new machines was to blame for incidents of ballots not properly feeding into scanners.

"These machines have not malfunctioned; this has only been happening because of poll workers struggling to learn the new equipment." Zeigler said, adding that a couple of machines were involved. "At no point was voting halted. They only swapped out machines as a precaution."

Beacon Journal news partner News 5 Cleveland had reported that a voting site in Cuyahoga Falls and possibly others in Summit County were experiencing problems with new voting equipment. The difficulty was reported at The Church in the Falls, 837 Chestnut Blvd. The location serves Cuyahoga Falls precincts 2A and 2B.

Summit County Board of Elections officials said any ballots affected by issues dealing with voting equipment were being stored in orange auxiliary bags as per protocol overseen by Democratic and Republican poll workers, and would be scanned once issues were resolved.

Voters will decide in an Aug. 8 special election whether they support Issue 1, a measure which would:

Issue 1:Everything to know about Ohio Issue 1 and the August special election

Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 8. Election results should start to come in shortly after polls close.