COLUMBUS – Hotly contested races for governor and other statewide offices, as well as a battle for control of the U.S. House brought Ohioans out in great numbers to vote in the first midterm elections since Donald Trump was elected president.
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Almost 4.4 million ballots were cast during Tuesday’s election, a 54.3 percent turnout of registered voters, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
That meant lines at some polling places but only one problem, involving a single voter, was reported.
Franklin County elections officials says a paper jam caused an issue with a voter whose paper ballot appeared to show a different selection for governor.
A video posted to Instagram showed a voter at a South Side polling station making a touch-screen selection for Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine but it appearing instead on a paper record as a vote for Democratic candidate Richard Cordray.
Aaron Sellers, spokesman for the Franklin County Board of Elections, says the machine in question at the polling location on Obetz Road had a paper jam that showed a previous voter’s choice. Sellers says the voter who experienced the problem got a poll worker to cancel out on the machine in question and then voted successfully on another machine.
After reviewing the video and our Election Day Issue Tracking software, we determined that particular machine had a paper jam and was taken off line. The voter in question was moved to another machine and cast their vote with no issues. The time stamp on the paper tape and the electronic poll book confirm the jam, as does the contemporaneous report of the incident by the polling official logged into the issue tracking software. -Aaron Sellers, Public Information Officer, Franklin Co. Bd. of Elections
Boards of elections may begin their official canvass of ballots cast on Nov. 17 and must complete the count by Nov. 27, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Voters who cast provisional ballot because they did not provide proper ID at the polls can return to their county board of elections to provide an accepted form of ID by Nov. 13 so that their ballot may be counted. Outstanding absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 5 will be eligible to be considered for counting if they are received by Nov. 16.