FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio — The transition from early voting to Election Day is underway at the Franklin County Board of Elections.
Workers are setting up phones and computers, transforming a large room into the poll worker hotline center.
"It's kind of like a command center for any issues that may arise at polling locations," Franklin County BOE spokesperson Aaron Sellers said. "But the main focus is ensuring everything's open by 6:30 a.m."
When polls open Tuesday morning, the focus will be ensuring Election Day goes smoothly and securely.
Tens of thousands of ballots from voters who participated in early voting are stored in the ballot vault and waiting to be counted once polls close at 7:30 p.m.
"It takes a Republican key and a Democrat key to get into the room," Sellers said.
From collecting to storing to counting the ballots, bipartisan monitoring is key to ensuring the election is fair and honest.
"There's not one point of anything we do that doesn't have a Republican and a Democrat involved in the process," Sellers said.
100% accuracy is also a must. High-speed scanners count 250-300 ballots per minute. Election officials will test them for accuracy again before the actual ballots are run through them.
"We're testing to make sure it's catching everything," Sellers said.
Outside the elections office, ballot security at the drive-thru drop-off tent is top of mind, too. Voters pass their ballots to a worker who puts them straight into the metal drop box.
There was no early in-person voting in Ohio on Monday. If mailed, absentee ballots had to be postmarked by Monday. Otherwise, voters have to take them to their respective county Board of Elections office.
Polls are open on election day from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.