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Ben Roberts, left, and Jon Stainbrook of the county board of elections examine records at the former Child Study Institute building.
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Storage of data, vote machines labeled unsafe

THE BLADE/LORI KING

Storage of data, vote machines labeled unsafe

Stainbrook urges consolidation in 1 climate-controlled facility

Elections records are being held in unsafe and scattered conditions and should be consolidated in a single climate-controlled facility, said Jon Stainbrook, a new member of the Lucas County Board of Elections.

Mr. Stainbrook raised the issue of storage of records and voting machines at Thursday's election board meeting, and said he wants prompt action by the Lucas County Board of Commissioners.

According to Mr. Stainbrook, employees have told him that heating and air conditioning units have not been functioning in the warehouse where hundreds of voting machines are stored between elections.

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County officials said they were aware of the board of elections' needs for more storage space, and were working on a solution when the board's top management was fired in March.

In an impromptu tour given to The Blade, Mr. Stainbrook showed a space heater connected to a wall outlet that he said has been used in an attempt to keep the voting machine storage area warm.

He called it a fire hazard.

"It's our duty to not only make sure the machines are stored properly but are stored at the right temperatures," Mr. Stainbrook said. "This is ridiculous. This is irresponsible. I cannot believe it has not been addressed before now."

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He also toured the board's temporary storage space in the abandoned Child Study Institute building downtown. The hallway leading to the storage area is dusty and littered with old furniture and broken building materials. Broken glass, loose insulation, and ceiling tiles are visible in the old judicial rooms off the hall. Employees are provided with paper breathing masks to enter the area when they need to recover records.

The boxes of old voting records, some going back to the 1970s, are stacked on the floors, and a few are collapsed or spilled open.

According to Ben Roberts, the newly installed Republican director of the elections board, the elections agency has records, equipment, and employees in four buildings -- on two separated floors in Government Center, the former CSI building, the board warehouse at 546 Southard Ave., and the early vote center on Washington Street.

"Management 101 tells you you want one place," Mr. Roberts said. He told the board that he met with Lucas County Commission President Pete Gerken and other officials Wednesday to discuss the board's need for consolidated facilities with more "safe and secure" storage.

Mr. Roberts said he doesn't know yet exactly what the board's needs are.

County officials said Thursday they were working closely on the issues with the previous team of elections officials before they were ordered dismissed in March by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted over the counting of illegal provisional ballots.

County Administrator Peter Ujvagi and Assistant Administrator Bridgette Kabat produced records showing discussions starting in December and continued into March about the board of elections' space requirements.

A March 23 email from Signature Associates real estate firm offered several available spaces, such as vacant supermarkets. An email the same day from The Collaborative Inc. proposes a contract of $7,500 to analyze the board of elections' space requirements. The email says the board occupies 40,000 square feet of space in seven facilities and has a need of 45,000 to 50,000 square feet.

"We were ready to engage with this proposal when things changed," Ms. Kabat said, referring to the abrupt departure of former Director Linda Howe and former Deputy Director Jeremy Demagall on March 25. The new director, Mr. Roberts, and deputy director, Democrat Dan DeAngelis, were hired July 18.

Mr. Ujvagi denied that the machines were in a space without heating or air conditioning, and he said it was unlikely that the temperatures exceeded the specifications for environmental control prescribed by the manufacturer, Diebold Election Systems Inc.

According to Mr. Ujvagi's copy of the Diebold manual, the electronic voting machines should be stored within a temperature range of -20 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius, which translates to a range of -4 degrees Fahrenheit to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. It specifies relative humidity of no more than 85 percent.

He said no one has complained to the county commissioners about the voting machine storage room being too cold, too hot, or too humid.

"This has been an issue of looking for a central location for both file and equipment storage," Mr. Ujvagi said. "That's been under discussion for quite some time."

The large room in the county building on Southard has heating and air conditioning vents in the ceiling, but also had temporary ductwork stuck through the ceiling.

A space heater with an electric cord to plug into the wall was located on a ledge, not far from a thermometer and humidity gauge. The thermometer and humidity gauge were household style and did not have recording capability.

"There was an HVAC [heating, ventilation, and air conditioning] system. Our understanding is it has not been in operation, and the heating is still not in operation," Mr. Roberts said.

Mr. Stainbrook said the space heater is a fire hazard and said employees found the wooden cases in which voting machines are stored pushed up close to the space heater.

The warehouse was damaged by a fire in February, 2009, because it is attached to the county's garage. A snow plow truck caught fire and filled the building with smoke, which caused $1.1 million of damage, for which the county received an insurance reimbursement.

Keith Cunningham, special projects manager for the Ohio secretary of state, who is assisting the board of elections' new management through the primary election coming up on Tuesday, said the equipment is designed and tested to operate in a range of temperatures and humidity and the county would have trouble defending the machines in a challenge if the machines aren't correctly stored.

He urged the board to move the voting machines into climate-controlled conditions with a nonwater fire suppression system.

"The problem this generates is you cannot prove if it exceeded the manufacturer's recommendations," Mr. Cunningham said. "If someone complains, you have no records that show what the maximum temperature and humidity was. You can't defend yourselves."

Contact Tom Troy at: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058.

First Published September 9, 2011, 4:00 a.m.

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Ben Roberts, left, and Jon Stainbrook of the county board of elections examine records at the former Child Study Institute building.  (THE BLADE/LORI KING)  Buy Image
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