Ohioans won't know final, official election results for weeks

[brooklynite]

Source: Columbus Dispatch

Prepare yourselves, Ohioans. Election night will be more like election month.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose warned voters during a Tuesday press conference that results reported after the polls close on Election Day will be strictly unofficial, and he said state law bars his office and county boards of elections from reporting any additional results until the official canvass is completed weeks later.

With as many as half of Ohio voters expected to cast absentee ballots, that means results hanging on a thin margin could change in the official results, and it could be nearly Thanksgiving before those are reported.

“The numbers will change between election night and the final certification. That’s not a sign of something nefarious. In fact it’s the contrary. It’s a sign of the system working like it’s supposed to,” LaRose said.

Read more: https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200908/ohioans-wonrsquot-know-final-official-election-results-for-weeks?rssfeed=true&utm_campaign=snd-autopilot

[Siwsan]

1. I have no doubt that states will start setting a distant 'bar' for finalized results.

I'm not saying it likely WON'T take longer to tabulate, but it's better to set people expectations at a distance, and give them results sooner, than the opposite.

[ancianita]

2. That's exactly where Karl Rove and operatives were waiting to beat Obama in 2008, too.

They were hoping their 'nefarious' had done its job then, too.

[stillcool]

6. I think that was 2012 with Romney?

Jennifer Brunner was Secretary of State in 2008, and knew her stuff when it comes to voting 'glitches'. Awesome article here about Ohio and Rove. What a night.
https://truthout.org/articles/anonymous-karl-rove-and-2012-election-fix/

[ancianita]

8. Maybe. But I remember when I flew out two Stanford techies to OH for the Obama election.

I realize my memory's probably shot, but I think you know that I'm making an overall point about Repubs making any kind of 'margin of error' report give cover to their shenanigans.

[stillcool]

12. absolutely!..and Ohio has been such a fine example

which is why I had to look it up.

[CaptainTruth]

9. They stole the Ohio election in 2004, & tried again in 2008 but failed.

From what I remember the OH election IT staff went home on election night 2004, which allowed Rove's guys to crash the election servers & take over (& modify) vote tabulation.

They tried to do the same thing in 2008 but the OH IT staff stayed on the job election night & were able to keep control of the election servers (& the vote counting) when Rove's guys tried to crash the servers.

New Court Filing Reveals How the 2004 Ohio Presidential Election Was Hacked

[link:https://truthout.org/articles/new-court-filing-reveals-how-the-2004-ohio-presidential-election-was-hacked/|]

[ancianita]

10. Right! That's how I remember it, because Rove was slack-jawed on FOX saying there "HAS

to be a mistake!" I was jumping up and down that night.

[brooklynite]

11. The Ohio Democratic Party Executive Director says it didn't happen

I know because I asked her.

[Jose Garcia]

19. Why would you give more credence to her than an anonymous person on the internet?

[Mister Ed]

3. Good. That's the way it was for most of our republic's history.

Results came in on horseback. There were no breathless, bloviating TV pundits "calling" the election at 10PM on election might. And the republic fared just fine.

Just count the votes. Count 'em all. Count 'em slowly, carefully, and in full view of the public and press. That's what makes for a strong democracy, TV ratings be damned.

[TexasBushwhacker]

5. I agree. Before the 24 hour news cycle

No one was trying to call it early to avoid the embarrassment of this:

[Auggie]

4. Sounds like Republican Frank LaRosa setting the stage for fraud ...

[diverdownjt]

18. Exactly right...

Don't forget...Rethugs have been working on these shenanigans since time began(2016).

And i'm sure longer than that.

[Thekaspervote]

7. We won't need OH to win. Most of the states, except maybe CA will have most votes counted

On election night.

That is according to the poll aggregator at the economist

[zeusdogmom]

14. An Ohio win would be really, really nice.

I want Trump beaten so badly he will never cover from the embarrassment.

[zeusdogmom]

13. I think absentee ballots are counted on election day

So if people return their ballots ASAP there won't be a big number left hanging around. The election night vote has always been tentative until the official canvas a couple of weeks later. Usually in statewide elections the number of absentee ballots arriving after the election and still eligible for counting aren't enough to change the outcome - numbers and percentages may change, but the outcome remains the same. Usually. Local elections, due to smaller numbers, are sometimes impacted more by late arriving absentee.

It's up to us folks. If voting by absentee ballot, get it done ASAP. I hope by now you know who you are voting for so it shouldn't be a problem to mark the ballot following ALL of the instructions, put enough postage on the return envelope, and mail the thing. If voting by person, enjoy it. I will miss doing that this year.

[LisaL]

16. They start counting absentee ballots before election day.

But Oh also allows 10 days for absentee ballots to arrive, if they are postmarked the day before the election. So there certainly could be ballots that haven't arrived yet but will arrive after the election.

[LiberalFighter]

15. It should not take a month to tally the votes.

If each county does their job it should take a week to 10 days. Considering they know there will be more mail ballots they should make sure they have enough workers to handle it.

[Kathy M]

17. Found this article interesting , it was also dated end of Aug . By now requests are higher

"But Ohio’s no-fault absentee system allows any registered voter to request a ballot. Absentee requests received now can be processed, but the first wave of ballots won’t be mailed to voters until Oct. 6.

Reporters from The Dispatch and other papers in the Gannett Ohio chain surveyed boards of elections in all 88 Ohio counties last week. The 75 that responded with either hard figures or estimates said they have received about 400,000 so far.

In the entirety of the 2016 general election, boards of elections sent fewer than 1.3 million absentee ballots to voters.

Several boards reported that they already have hired temporary staff members to help deal with the onslaught of mail and phone calls. Most had planned to bring in seasonal employees after Labor Day.

″‘A lot’ is putting it mildly,” said Tony Perlatti, director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, of the 80,000 absentee requests received there so far.

Perlatti said Cuyahoga County had processed about 50,000

Franklin County already had about 46,500 absentee requests last week, and Hamilton County had nearly 30,000.

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200823/absentee-ballot-requests-flooding-ohio-elections-boards-like-never-before/1

more counties listed at site with numbers .