CLEVELAND — Nine counties have decided to cut ties with a Cleveland-based printing company after it failed to deliver thousands of absentee ballots.
Sixteen counties total, including Cuyahoga County, have experienced delays in mailing absentee ballots after Midwest Direct fell behind on printing, which the company says is because they didn’t expect such a high surge of requests for ballots.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced on Twitter the nine counties that ended their contracts will begin printing in house: Butler, Clinton, Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, Mahoning, Miami and Williams.
“It’s truly unfortunate and unacceptable that they over-promised and under-delivered,” LaRose said.
Reports of delays began in Summit County when its board of elections announced 95,000 people would be receiving their ballots late. The delay in printing set back mailing out ballots by a full week.
It took Summit County BOE repeated requests for information to elicit a response from the beleaguered printer, said Board of Elections Board Chair Bill Rich.
The New York Times even reported on the issue, which pointed out an instance over the summer that sparked conversation. Richard and James Gebbie, brothers who own Midwest Direct, put a Trump-Pence 2020 flag outside the building.
“It was a curious juxtaposition — a company in the business of distributing absentee ballots through the mail showing a preference for a president who has spent months denigrating the practice of voting by mail,” wrote New York Times reporter Reid Epstein.
In an interview with the paper, the brothers said they have the right to voice their opinion.
“We have freedom to vote for who we want and support who we want,” Richard Gebbie said. “We fly a flag because my brother and I own the company and we support President Trump.”
The brothers said that they are not to blame for the delay, and that nobody could have expected the high amount of absentee ballots. The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office said more than 2.5 million Ohioans have requested absentee ballots. Nationally, more than 35 million Americans have already voted.
As of Oct. 21, Midwest Direct says they’re caught up on ballots for the counties that still remain their clients.
Ohio absentee ballots must be requested by Oct. 31 and postmarked by Nov. 2 to count.