County officials willing to consider other locations for elections office
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Days after voicing concerns over the possible move of Mahoning County's Board of Elections, opposition to leaving Oak Hill Renaissance Place in Youngstown is not dying down.
'Here's how it affects the city residents, residents of the City of Youngstown — it restricts access to the board of elections,' said Ken Simon, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church.
Simon was one of a number of local Black leaders attending Thursday's county commissioners' meeting, saying the suggested move to the recently purchased Patriot Building in Austintown would create transportation issues for inner city voters, many of whom don't drive.
'Which, again, discourages city residents, who are already challenged, from voting,' Simon said.
'To move it outside of Youngstown, Youngstown's population is still close to 30% of the county's population,' said Youngstown City Councilwoman Anita Davis.
She raised a different idea — moving to the now vacant Chill Can property on the lower east side.
'It would save money, save your money and my money, to make those changes there,' Davis said.
While no one from the board of elections attended Thursday's meeting, Chairman Dave Betras says he's willing to look at other locations as long as it's away from Oak Hill Renaissance Place.
Commissioner Geno DiFabio says while it's clear the elections office needs to leave Oak Hill, officials are still looking over their options.
'There's going to be ramifications wherever we move. We're certainly not going to try to disenfranchise anybody's vote — that's the last thing I would want,' DiFabio said.
At this point, no decisions have been made and there's no timeline to make them.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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