Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose officially certified the results on Friday of the 2020 presidential election.
In a press release, the top election officer’s Press Secretary Maggie Sheehan, the office called the election “record-setting,” proof that voting “was most secure and more accessible than ever before.”
According to the release, the secretary’s office conducted a precinct-by-precinct review of data collected by each of Ohio’s 88 Boards of Election.
Ohio election results can be viewed by clicking, here.
Sheehan’s statement listed the following facts –
- With nearly 6 million votes tallied (Ohio has an estimated population of 11.7M people), 2020 eclipsed the 2008 General Election as the year with the highest number of votes.
- All 88 counties had a higher turnout than the 2016 Presidential General Election.
- 58.6% of votes were cast early; 94% of absentee ballots were returned.
- 2020 saw the fewest number of mail-in ballots rejected looking back to 2012. Rejection Rates by General Election:
- November 2020: 0.42%
- November 2016: 0.85%
- November 2012: 1.03%
Eighty-four ballots that were postmarked before November 2 but delivered after the 10-day grace period following the closing of the polls. “By comparison, 317 ballots were returned late by the postal service in the primary election – in just one county,” said the secretary’s office in the release.
Ohio counted mail-in votes before day-of, in-person votes on Election Day and was able to do so because the state canvassed the mail-ins up to four weeks before November 3, according to LaRose. This gave rise to Biden’s early lead that quickly deteriorated and resulted in Trump’s 3,154,834 votes to Biden’s 2,679,165 – a difference of almost 500,000.
The released statement noted that counties continue the post-election audit process, “further ensuring Ohioans have faith in the integrity of the electoral process and that every valid vote is counted.” It also noted that on December 14 the 18 members of Ohio’s Electoral College will meet in the Ohio Statehouse Senate Chamber to cast their electoral votes for president and vice president.
With a Trump victory in the Buckeye State, the December 14 meeting will consist of the following Republican electors, one for each of Ohio’s 16 U.S. Congressional Districts and two representing the entire state:
1)Ken Blackwell (Cincinnati),
2) Bonnie Ward (Waverly),
3) Barbara Clark (Columbus),
4) Keith Cheney (Lima),
5) Mark Wagoner (Ottawa Hills),
6) Dave Johnson (Salem),
7) Joy Padgett (Coshocton),
8) Patti Alderson (West Chester),
9) Steve Loomis (Cleveland),
10) Rob Scott (Kettering),
11) Patricia Weber (Akron),
12) Robert Paduchik (Westerville),
13) Karen Arshinkoff (Hudson),
14) James Wert (Lyundhurst),
15) Jim Canepa (Dublin),
16) Jane Timken (Canton),
Statewide 17) Madison Gesiotto (Canton), 18) Darrell Scott (Solon).
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Jack Windsor is Managing Editor and an Investigative Reporter at The Ohio Star. Windsor is also an Investigative Reporter at WMFD-TV. Follow Jack on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
