COLUMBUS – The Ohio Secretary of State’s office has placed the Franklin County Board of Elections on administrative oversight because of voting irregularities in Tuesday’s election.
Secy- State Frank LaRose says electronic polling books failed to work properly for the second year in a row, allowing three voters to vote twice.
The errors didn’t affect the outcomes of any races, but LaRose says the failure of the board to correct a problem that was first detective in 2020 imperiled “the integrity of elections for the voters they serve.”
Administrative oversight requires the board to report weekly to the LaRose’s office “to ensure the board reaches the standard required of the voters they serve, LaRose said.
LaRose’s office says some of the approximately 1,700 electronic pollbooks sent to polling locations in the county on Election Day were not updated with the latest early-voting tallies.
Because their early votes were not updated at their polling places, it appeared the three voters had not voted so they were told to cast ballots a second time.
LaRose says elections officials will work with the county prosecutor to see if any laws were broken in one case where someone who knew about the e-pollbook issue told a voter to attempt to cast a second vote, despite knowing that the voter had already cast her ballot during the early voting period.
Following a similar failure during the 2020 general election, the Board of Elections developed a plan to prevent a repeat of the problem but “failed to follow that plan,” LaRose said.
Winners of US House seats in Ohio sworn into office
Two vacant Ohio congressional seats have been filled after Republican Mike Carey, a coal lobbyist from Columbus, and Democrat Shontel Brown, a Democratic Party leader from Cleveland, were sworn into the House.
Carey takes over for former Republican Rep. Steve Stivers in central Ohio’s 15th District. Stivers resigned in April to lead the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
Brown now represents the Cleveland-area seat vacated by former Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge, who stepped down to become secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
The two won their special election races Tuesday but, to hold onto the seat, they will need to win reelection again next year under a congressional map that’s being redrawn.