Election Day, and Ohio’s AFL-CIO hopes for many pro-labor wins

The president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, Tim Burga, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss Election Day in Ohio, the cost of the special election in August and issues and expectations for the election.

The cost of Ohio’s special August election was released, and taxpayers are now responsible for nearly $18 million used to put on an election for one issue in August. Burga said this is the cost of rushing a special August vote. If they had just waited until the November election date, Ohio taxpayers would not be responsible for this huge bill. It’s an insult to the Ohio taxpayers after trying to rush a vote that would eliminate one of their democratic rights, Burga said.

There are more rights on the Ohio ballots for the election taking place today, Burga said. The Ohio AFL-CIO supports 44 union members on ballots across the state. Overall, the state labor federation endorsed nearly 172 candidates across the state in various local elections. Together with their local labor federations, the Ohio AFL-CIO is working to get voters to the polls and ensure the state elects as many pro-labor candidates as possible.

After the changes to the voting rules related to required identification, there has been a significant increase in voters being turned away. Ensuring that voters have the correct identification required by the state is the number one educational effort by the state and local labor federation. Regular elections typically see more voter turnout to the polls than in special elections held in August. While this year’s special election saw a greater than normal turnout, Burga is expecting the November election to outperform the special August election with turnout.

To hear more from Burga, please play the episode above.