LORAIN COUNTY, Ohio — An Ohio poll worker has been terminated amid an alleged situation in Lorain County in which officials say he took sealed bags of polling supplies to a bar before delivering them to his assigned voting location.
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The Ohio Secretary of State's Office said the situation "does not involve live ballots and does not impact the integrity of the election.
Here’s the full statement from the Secretary of State’s Office, which was shared on X Tuesday:
Our office is aware of an issue in Lorain County involving a poll worker who took sealed bags of polling supplies, including blank provisional ballots, to a bar last night before delivering them to his assigned voting location. The county board of elections and county sheriff have investigated and reviewed security footage. They also verified that all tamper-evident security seals were intact, and materials properly accounted for prior to the start of voting. The poll worker has been terminated.
To be clear, this situation does not involve live ballots and does not impact the integrity of the election.
Paul Adams, Director of the Lorain County Board of Elections, tells 3News the poll worker -- a manager -- was picking supplies from the BOE and went across the street to a bar/restaurant. We're told there was a situation where his car broke down and he was waiting on an Uber, but allegedly got dinner and beer while he was there.
He also allegedly walked away from the polling supplies while at the establishment. The bar owner had cameras inside and the BOE was alerted that evening, allowing them to react and intervene.
Adams noted these were provisional ballots, saying only two people needed one at that location.
Two officials with the Board of Elections -- a Democrat and Republican -- confirmed the seal numbers on the bag and found none were broken, according to Adams.
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