Fritz Schoen, a voting location manager and retired sales representative, is the Republican Party’s choice to replace an elections official whom the secretary of state removed from office suddenly last week.
Mr. Schoen, 64, was nominated to fill the remainder of former Chairman Bruce Saferin’s term through 2021 as one of two Republicans on the bipartisan, four-member board.
County GOP chairman Mark Wagoner touted Mr. Schoen’s experience working in elections and on campaigns. He has managed polling locations for the Lucas County Board of Elections since 2015 and served as campaign treasurer for Toledo City Councilman Tom Waniewski.
“Elections are serious business, and Lucas County voters deserve a professionally run Board of Elections,” Mr. Wagoner said in a statement. “With years of experience as a precinct election official and a voting location manager, Fritz Schoen will bring a needed first-hand perspective to how elections are actually run at a polling location. Fritz’s perspective and insight should help improve election day operations with the goal of more timely and accurate reporting of election results.”
The Republican Party’s executive committee was tasked with nominating a replacement after Dr. Saferin was removed from his post Friday by Secretary of State Jon Husted, the lieutenant governor-elect, for what he characterized as issues leading up to and through the 2018 election. They included slow processing of absentee ballots and staffing choices that contributed to the county being second-to-last in the state to report results on election night.
Dr. Saferin’s swift ousting — he was removed from office a day after the secretary of state notified him of a hearing in Columbus — shocked elections staff and board members. Dr. Saferin said the move was purely political and he shouldn’t be singled out for the actions of the entire board.
Mr. Husted, a fellow Republican, had first appointed Dr. Saferin to a vacancy on the board in 2017 and later reappointed him for a full term. Either Mr. Husted, who will be sworn into his new role on Monday, or his successor, Frank LaRose, will have the final say on Mr. Schoen’s appointment.
In a letter to Dr. Saferin explaining his firing, Mr. Husted also referenced the board’s past issues and his desire not to repeat them. “When I appointed you I specifically explained that I expected well-run elections, and that any connections to the dysfunctional past would not be acceptable,” he wrote.
The dysfunction he references dates back to 2014, when Mr. Husted removed and replaced three board members, including former Lucas County Republican Party Chairman Jon Stainbrook. The board also removed elections director Meghan Gallagher at Mr. Husted’s suggestion.
A report from that time detailed a host of issues, including the board’s failure to file campaign-finance reports, schedule regular meetings, and maintain decorum during meetings.
In his letter last week, the secretary of state chided Dr. Saferin for conferring on election night, 2018, with Mr. Stainbrook and Ms. Gallagher, who were at the Early Vote Center.
The GOP executive committee also chose to renominate Dave Karmol for another four-year term lasting through 2023.
Mr. Schoen, of Toledo, said the board’s priorities should be to recruit more poll workers, improve training, and find more efficient ways to handle results on election night.
“It’s somewhat complicated and people don’t realize how much work goes into preparing for the election,” he said.
Also on Wednesday, Mr. Husted’s office announced that more than 275,000 people statewide would receive notices to confirm their voter registration. Under Ohio law, registered voters who haven’t voted in two years receive a notice in the mail to confirm their address. If the state doesn’t get a response and a person then doesn’t vote for four years, they’re removed from the voter rolls.
In Lucas County, 11,700 people can expect to receive these notices in their mailbox, according to the secretary of state.
First Published January 10, 2019, 1:47 a.m.
