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Ohio Secretary of State Takes Post-Election Victory Lap
By Fletcher Word
Sojourner’s Truth Editor
“Here in Ohio, elections
are trustworthy,” said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose
last week as he stopped at the Lucas County Board of
Elections Early Voting site to observe the last day of the
post-election audit being conducted by bipartisan teams of
poll workers.
Not that it was easy,
according to Lucas County Board of Elections Director LaVera
Scott. “I’ve been here since 2004 and this is definitely the
most challenging election I’ve ever been part of,” she said.
As is well documented by
now, the challenge of a general election in the midst of a
pandemic, along with an extremely controversial incumbent
president driving up the turnout on both sides, ensured that
the task of conducting an election would be enormous.
“Ohio set an all-time
record for voter participation,” said LaRose as he noted
that in “217 years of Ohio elections, none has been more
challenging.”
Chief among the challenges
was dealing with the immense increase in absentee
ballots/early voting. By Election Day, “59 percent of
ballots had already been counted,” he said. “But Ohio was
ready to shine, mainly because the boards of elections did
good work.”
In Ohio, post-election
audits are required to be conducted after each general
election using either a Percentage Based Audit or a
Risk-Limiting Audit to provide assurance to voters that the
results of the election are accurate, according to the
Secretary of State’s office. |
