Portage County sees high early voting turnout amid DOJ monitoring for 'intimidation' concerns

The Portage County Board of Elections director said Wednesday the election is secure, weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice said it would monitor voting in the county amid concerns of “intimidation.”

“They (voters) can expect the same secure and honest elections we have given them since our existence in Portage County,” Board of Elections director Faith Lyon said. “We’ve spent many years working to improve our security protocols, ballot security drobox — the 24-hour monitoring.”

Lyon said this election they’ve seen 500 to 600 additional voters on average every day compared to the election in 2020. By Wednesday they had mailed out around 15,000 ballots and served more than 13,000 early voters.

“It has been robust, exciting. We’ve loved seeing all the voters come out and be excited about voting and casting their ballots early in person to guarantee their votes are being counted for the election,” Lyon said.

“This one is kind of a big deal so I was excited to go out there and voice my opinion,” first-time voter Carlee Fafrak said. “I feel kind of like an adult [laughs]. Very grown-up move today.”

Voters didn't notice a difference at the polls, but the DOJ said it would deploy staff to the county during early voting and through Election Day after voters raised concerns about “intimidation resulting from the surveillance and the collection of personal information regarding voters, as well as threats concerning the electoral process."

“There’s been some turmoil with the current Sheriff so we wanted to come and show our support,” Jackie Fafrack said.

Last month Portage County made national headlines after Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski posted comments on Facebook asking residents to "write down all the addresses of the people" with Kamala Harris signs in their yards.


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