TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said his office will place the Lucas County Board of Elections under administrative oversight following Tuesday night’s disastrous election performance, the latest fallout from an election night that left Toledo waiting hours for results (The Blade, via NewsLocker).

Lucas County was the last of Ohio’s 88 counties to report any results — the first numbers didn’t post until nearly 2 a.m. Wednesday. The board itself called the delay “unacceptable” at its Wednesday morning meeting. (Related: the board’s apology and what went wrong)

The fallout was swift and public. Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz mocked the board on Facebook as the county’s results page sat empty: “Should we be checking the fax machine, smoke signals, or the carrier pigeons?”

Fresh off her 23rd-term victory, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur blamed LaRose’s office for the chaos. “This is an abuse of free elections,” Kaptur said. (Related: Kaptur defeats Merrin in OH-09)

LaRose’s office and state law point the other way — at a pileup of new requirements and board performance. Ohio legislators eliminated the four-day grace period for mail-in ballots this year, and a LaRose directive required all valid absentee ballots returned by the end of Election Day to be counted first. A late flood of mail-in ballots then swamped the count, and a bomb threat at Beverly Elementary that pushed voting there to 9:15 p.m. compounded the mess.

For context: Kaptur defeated Republican Derek Merrin 52.7%–47.3% (159,306 to 142,830, per DDHQ) to win Ohio’s 9th District. All results remain unofficial until certified.

Sources: The Blade via NewsLocker | Akron Beacon Journal | Columbus Dispatch

Featured image: Ann-Sophie Qvarnström, via Wikimedia Commons.