The Franklin County Board of Elections on May 21 accepted the resolutions from Whitehall City Council scheduling the special recall election for the mayor and two council members for June 23, with absentee and early in-person voting beginning May 26.
Whitehall voters will decide if Mayor Michael Bivens and at-large council members Amy Harcar and Lori Elmore will retain their respective seats. The recall effort is the result of petition signatures gathered by Whitehall for All, a group of Whitehall residents who have accused the trio of corruption and financial mismanagement.
The group has not provided any evidence to support their accusations. City Treasurer Trevel Balser, who is the husband of Patricia Balser, one of the women involved in the recall effort, said the city’s finances are in fine condition during the council’s meeting on May 19.
Bivens has previously said that the recall effort is being driven by extremists who do not live in Whitehall. The Dispatch previously reported that the group has received financial and other support from Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9, which represents Whitehall police and nearly 30 other Columbus-area law enforcement agencies. The Dispatch reported that a Facebook page that uses AI-generated images to mock Bivens, Harcar, and Elmore is operated by members of the local FOP.
What is the early voting and absentee voting schedule?
Early in-person voting will take place at the Franklin County Board of Elections, 1700 Morse Road. From May 26 through June 12, voters may cast ballots from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the elections board.
On June 15, 17 and 18, early voting will run from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. On June 16, early voting will run from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
There will be no early voting on June 19 because Juneteenth is a federal holiday.
On June 20, early voting will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. On the last day of early in-person voting on June 21, voting hours will run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Special election day will be June 23, with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Residents interested in absentee voting can either request an application by contacting the county Board of Elections at 614-525-3100 or visiting the elections board website and dowloading and printing their own. Once the application is submitted to the board, voters will receive their ballot by mail. The ballot must be filled out and returned to the county elections board by 7:30 p.m. on June 23. Failure to do so means the vote will not be counted.
Where will voting locations be on special election day, June 23?
Voters can cast their ballots on June 23 at the following locations:
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Whitehall recall election voting days, times, locations. What to know
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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