Summit County Board of Elections Board Meeting 02.03.2026

The Summit County Board of Elections held a meeting on February 3, 2026, focusing primarily on procurement decisions related to the upcoming election cycle. The board approved the purchase of absentee envelopes totaling $45,000 to comply with new legislative requirements, ordering 70,000 red return envelopes and 100,000 blue outbound envelopes to cover both primary and general elections. They also approved bids for election kits and polling location poll books, awarding the contract to Document Concepts, the longstanding vendor, with a noted price reduction for election kits. The most significant procurement discussion centered on ballot printing, where five bids were received but only two vendors met all requirements. After thorough evaluation, the board selected Phoenix Graphics, a New York-based company and the lowest bidder, to print the 2026 ballots. This marked a shift from previous in-state vendors and a move away from gummed ballots to stapled ballots to increase vendor competition and improve ballot handling. The board emphasized the importance of maintaining competition and recommended notifying disqualified bidders to encourage future participation.