Residents and election officials urge Mahoning County not to relocate Board of Elections from Youngstown, request public hearings

At the Mahoning County Board of Commissioners meeting on June 5, multiple residents and voting-rights advocates pressed commissioners to delay or reconsider plans to move the county Board of Elections out of Youngstown and to hold public hearings.

David Beatrice, former chairman of the Democratic Party and identified at the meeting as chairman of the Mahoning County Board of Elections, told the commissioners: "I would never, under any set of circumstances, ever allow a suppression of African American votes as my tenure on that board of elections." Beatrice said data he plans to present next week do not support the claim that keeping elections operations at Oak Hill increases turnout and argued the county needs a new, code-compliant elections facility.

The issue matters, residents said, because of transportation barriers and building conditions. "This move is going to further disenfranchise voters," said Pastor Simon, who addressed the panel as a representative of the Community Mobilization Coalition, a coalition he said includes 25 minority organizations. He asked commissioners whether they had reviewed alternative sites proposed by the coalition and requested formal public hearings before any final decision.

Several Youngstown residents said moving the Board of Elections to Austintown would make voting harder for people who rely on transit. "People who do not get around would have to rely on WRTA," said Celestine Glenn, a Youngstown resident who gave her address for the record. She said WRTA routes often leave riders with a substantial walk from stops to their destinations.

Other public-commenters echoed those concerns. Annie Gillum, who gave a Youngstown address, said county government offices should remain in downtown Youngstown so residents can reach them more easily. Dee Smith, who identified her address at 3502 Champlain Avenue, described the extra time required to travel by bus if services move further from central Youngstown.

Speakers also questioned whether money already spent on county facilities could be used to repair the Oak Hill building instead of acquiring and retrofitting a new site. Helen Youngblood, who said she worked at the Department of Human Services for 40 years, asked why the county would buy a new building before lining up the uses and costs for it.

Commissioners responded that no final decision has been made. A commissioner on the dais said, "There is no final solution. There is nothing to tell you what we're going to do because we haven't decided that... We haven't made final decisions. It's a process." The commissioner added that the county would share information when decisions are reached.

The meeting record contains several factual points raised by public commenters: Beatrice said Youngstown's turnout in the 2025 primary was about 11% with 38,000 registered voters and that Youngstown has lost about 2,000 registered voters since 2020; he also said the commissioners can contract with WRTA for free election-day bus service for a 30-day period if they choose to. Those figures and procedural claims were presented by speakers during public comment and were not independently verified during the meeting.

No formal action or vote on relocation was taken during the June 5 meeting. Residents and advocacy groups at the meeting demanded that the commissioners schedule public hearings and respond directly to the Community Mobilization Coalition before making any final decisions about relocating the Board of Elections.