Millions of Ohio voters are casting ballots today, joining the 1.7 million who voted early. Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections run the show today. They’re overseen and managed by the Secretary of State’s office, which has rooms on two floors of a downtown Columbus office building dedicated to monitoring the election at the 8,834 precincts across 3,042 polling locations in Ohio.
There’s a social media section where they’re watching TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, X and other platforms. Secretary of State Frank LaRose said they're watching for national trends.
"I hate even that we have to talk about this, but unfortunately not just here in Ohio, but around the country there seem to have been a number of bomb threats today so far," said LaRose in an interview. "They've all turned out to be phonies, but it's unfortunately very easy for somebody to do. It's very impactful. So we've seen that happening in other states. We've seen it to a lesser extent in a few isolated locations in Ohio. And of course, we then are working with the county Board of Elections and law enforcement first responders to to work through that.”
There’s also the Election Integrity Center, where compliance analysts and investigators look into activity ranging from complaints from voters about their experience or tracking incidents such as fire alarms and bomb threats. There's the readiness and response center, bringing together state and federal partners such as the Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The command center in the glass-walled room next door has leaders in elections issues, communications, regional operations and other areas. And finally, the room where everything is happening now – election night reporting.
The office is monitoring issues ranging from complaints from voters about their experience to power outages to law enforcement activity, and even things that come up on social media. Secretary of State Frank LaRose says that helps them keep track of national trends.
“There seem to have been a number of bomb threats today so far. They've all turned out to be phonies, but it's unfortunately very easy for somebody to do. It's very impactful. So we've seen that happening in other states. We've seen it to a lesser extent in a few isolated locations in Ohio.”
LaRose said there haven’t been major problems so far – but notes that when a fire alarm went off in one precinct, poll workers pulled voting machines into the parking lot and so voting could continue.
On a floor below those offices, the room where everything is happening now: election night reporting. There, elections officials have practiced scenarios, ready for the polls to close and the room to open. Results are reported by local boards of elections, verified and then sent to the secretary of state’s website.
LaRose said traffic to the website will stay high until around 11 p.m., when he expects most races have been called and just the last 10% of precincts remain.
“Those are the hard cases. It's the poll worker whose car broke down. It's the election official who shut down a machine incorrectly. And now you've got to start over again, recounting all of the votes," LaRose said. "It's those kind of issues that just come up when there's a logistically complicated operation like this. So from 11 p.m. until 1 or 2 in the morning, that's when we're getting that last 10% in. And then as the boards get complete, we will call them and release them for the night. They get to go home.”
LaRose notes that results on election night aren't certfied, because the final official canvas won't come for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, LaRose said there’s an important number to watch on the website as results roll in – the number of outstanding ballots.
“That means provisionals that could still count. Many of them will. That means outstanding UOCAVA, overseas and military ballots. That's the total number of votes that could still be registered, even after we're at 100% on election night.”
An automatic recount is triggered if the vote between candidates is within a quarter of a percent. Candidates can request recounts if it's beyond that, but they have to pay the costs.
