ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Board of Elections is preparing for the Aug. 8 special election and is looking ahead to the Nov. 7 general election.

The statewide August vote will determine whether proposed constitutional amendments must receive 60 percent of voter support to be enacted, as opposed to the simple majority of 50 percent plus one vote required now.

Elections Director Aaron Moore reported $86,672 was provided by the state to fund the upcoming election.

Moore said this was more than was provided during the last August special election, but additional money will be needed. He said there would be opportunities to seek reimbursement.

Board member Frankie Lee Carnes said the greater expense is due to the need to train poll workers to comply with a new state election law requiring photo identification for those casting a ballot in person.

The issue of ballot machine distribution during the August election was also discussed, with fewer scanners expected to be needed at some of the multi-precinct polling locations.

“We’ll have those scanners here in our office available to send out in case of emergency or anything, but for right now we don’t believe some of our larger locations will use all the equipment we send out. But for the general election, we will go back to what we normally send out,” Moore said. “Normally we just send out 45 voting machines. We’re only just cutting it down to 41.”

Moore reported that 251 regular poll workers and 38 alternates have signed up for the August election. He said more poll workers are needed in Somerton and Wayne townships, particularly Democrats.

“If we’re going to do the four poll workers per location, that’s the 280, but we like the alternates in there for call-offs,” Moore noted.

The board also certified independent candidates who will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot. In Martins Ferry, incumbent Mayor John Davies is running for re-election and James M. Agnew Jr. for city council at large.

In Barnesville, Robyn Misner, Terry McCort, Aleysa Hendershot and Courtney Valine are running for village council.

In Bellaire, William Schmitt Jr. and Elizabeth Dugmore are running for village council seats. However, a ninth potential candidate was turned down due to insufficient verified signatures. Moore said the non-partisan candidates had no primaries. The deadline was the day before the May 2 election.

“There are some municipalities that are partisan races. Those are Martins Ferry, Bellaire, Bridgeport and Shadyside. Shadyside doesn’t have anything up this time around,” Moore said. “Those people will file to run as a party, and if they don’t want to run as a party, they can run as independent.”

The deadline for partisan candidates to file is Aug. 9.

In other matters, board member Michael Shaheen suggested a new policy. Prospective candidates will not be asked what office they intend to run for when they request a petition. The office will implement the change immediately, but those requesting petitions will still be asked if they intend to run for a municipal, township, county or state office, since each type of petition is different and requires different numbers of signatures.

“We’re just making sure that when candidates come in to get their petitions, they’re getting the appropriate petition, and from that they can use the petition toward whatever office they want,” Moore said. “When they pick up their stuff, we need to at least know what type of office they’re running for.”

The next meeting will be held at 4 p.m. Election Day, Aug. 8, at the board office, 52180 National Road.