The Ohio Secretary of State’s office is placing the Lucas County Board of Elections under administrative oversight after the board failed to report any election results for hours on Election Night, Secretary of State Frank LaRose told The Blade.

“They have chronically had problems that have not been adequately addressed,” LaRose said. “I don’t view this as punitive.”

About three hours after most polls closed on Tuesday, Nov. 3, Lucas County’s results dashboard still showed zeros — leaving a county-sized gap in Ohio’s statewide returns. The county’s first results were not posted until just before 2 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Ohio Association of Elections Officials.

County officials blamed a flood of last-minute absentee ballots that had to be processed under new state requirements, along with a bomb threat that evacuated Beverly Elementary School — a polling place — on Tuesday morning and technology challenges that forced staff reassignments.

The Ohio Association of Elections Officials offered its support to the board and its staff on Thursday, saying “a confluence of unique events conspired to delay results in Lucas County including bomb threats at polling locations, staffing shortages and antiquated voting equipment,” while adding that the county released its results accurately and thoroughly.

Election Night also saw a court fight over late voting. Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Ken Walz granted a request to let people who were in line between 7:31 and 9:15 p.m. cast provisional ballots. LaRose told WTOL he “very much” disagreed with the ruling and planned to challenge those ballots.

What happens next: voters who cast provisional ballots have until 5 p.m. today, Saturday, Nov. 7, to “cure” them by showing ID or documentation so their votes count. The board must certify its official canvass by Nov. 24.

Sources: The Blade via NewsLocker, The Columbus Dispatch

A ballot drop box. (Stock photo: Wikimedia Commons)