Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D) issued a mid-morning Election Day update on the status of voting in Ohio. Brunner's office said that according to reports into the Citizen's Response Center, voting in Ohio has been brisk and orderly on this historic day.

"Our office has spent 22 months preparing for this day, in partnership with Ohio's bipartisan boards of elections," Brunner said. "Thanks to that hard work and cooperation, Ohioans are seeing the success of our preparation today, voting in record numbers in an orderly and efficient system."

Brunner's office noted what they called some highlights of Ohioans voting experience as of 10:00 a.m. The office said the maximum wait time as reported to the office is no more than 1 hour in most large precincts.

Brunner's office said the longest average wait time reported to the office is approximately 1 hour in Lucas County.

The office noted that some sporadic machine issues have been reported - primarily Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail jams that the office said are easily fixed. The Secretary said some instances have occurred of precinct-based optical scanners not working, but voters are still able to place their ballots in a secure box for scanning later. 

Reports indicate poll workers are quickly fixing the hiccups and are offering voters backup paper ballots in touch-screen voting machine counties, the office said.

Brunner's office said that the two-line directive, one for touch-screen voting machines and one for back-up paper ballots, is keeping lines moving. Also, Brunner said some voters have been confused about Ohio's ID requirements, so the Secretary of State is working with boards of elections to reinforce poll worker training on eligible ID. The office said there are widespread reports of voters choosing back-up paper ballots.

The office also noted the availability online of an Election Day resources kit, which they said includes the following:

• Ohio Elections Factsheet - a quick reference for frequently asked questions about Ohio's bipartisan elections system.
• Briefing on enhancements to Ohio's elections systems since 2004, including voter ID, provisional ballots, voter challenges, long lines, voting security, and poll worker training.
• Summary of accomplishments for 2008
• Memorandum regarding the cost of elections reforms and enhancements
• Absentee voting report for the "overlap" period
• Absentee voting report through 10/24/2008
• Voting systems map for the State of Ohio
• ADA compliance visits map for the State of Ohio
• Citizens Response Center Facts