News, notes, figures and more from Tuesday’s election

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Turnout

Early in-person voting was a good indicator of how the turnout would be for the November 3 election.

Statewide, out of eight million registered voters, 4.6 million (58.1 percent) cast ballots, which was unusually high for a mid-term election. 1.1 million voters cast early in-person ballots statewide, while another 653,739 ballots were returned by mail.

In Van Wert County, 10,635 of 19,963 registered voters cast ballots (53.2 percent). Of those, 4,585 were cast ahead of Election Day and another 952 were returned by mail. Figures from the Van Wert County Board of Elections Office show 5,098 county residents voted on Tuesday.

No problems

Election Day was brisk, especially for a mid-term election, and Van Wert County Board of Elections Director Pam Henderson said there were no issues or problems locally.

“Everything went pretty smoothly as possible for an Election Day,” she noted.

Problems elsewhere

Lucas County totals were delayed by several hours, due to a series of problems, including a bomb threat at one precinct in Toledo. Voting hours at that precinct were extended until 9:15 p.m.

There was also a large, last-minute delivery of absentee ballots from the U.S. Postal Service, problems with the ballots and a shortage of personnel to tabulate the ballots. The first results from Lucas County were reported at approximately 1:45 a.m. Wednesday, and final totals were shared just before 3 a.m.

Local issues

Despite a pushback on property taxes, all levy issues on the ballot in Van Wert County were approved. All were renewals and all passed by a substantial percentage margin.

High and low

Figures provided by the Van Wert County Board of Elections show the highest and lowest percentage turnout among the county’s 32 precincts.

The five highest:

• Washington East: 71.48 percent
• Van Wert 4D: 71.41 percent
• Washington West: 65.48 percent
• Pleasant East: 65.29 percent
• Pleasant North: 64.95 percent

The five lowest:

• Van Wert 1B: 31.49 percent
• Van Wert 1A: 36.71 percent
• Van Wert 2A: 38.22 percent
• Van Wert 3A: 38.54 percent
• Delphos 2B: 43.10 percent

High and low II

In terms of percentages, the Ohio county with the highest voter turnout was none other than neighboring Paulding County, 74.4 percent. The next highest county was Delaware County, 69.5 percent.

Ohio’s southernmost county, Lawrence County had the lowest voter turnout (46.7 percent) while one of its neighbors, Gallia County, had the second lowest turnout (48.5 percent).

Governor’s race

While the headliners were Democrat Dr. Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamey, voters actually had a total of six choices:

• Acton and running mate David Pepper
• Ramaswamey and running mate Robert McColley
• Libertarian Don Kissick and running mate James Mills
• Write-in Timothy Grady and running mate Andrea Neutzling
• Write-in Heather Hill and running mate Patrick Manley
• Write-in Renea Turner and running mate Jalen Turner

Acton won with 2.404,178 votes, while Ramaswamey finished with 2,039,730 votes. Kissick received 151,874 votes. Write-in totals were not immediately available.

Libertarian Party

While Libertarian candidates didn’t win any statewide races, they did have an effect on some of the races. The Don Kissick/James Mills gubernatorial ticket received 3.3 percent of the vote, which which secured access for the Libertarian Party of Ohio for the next four years, per the rules for minor parties’ ballot access. 

“We are so grateful for the momentum we built throughout this campaign and for all of our supporters who we met along the way,” the Kissick/Mills campaign said in a statement. “With the LPO solidifying ballot access, now Ohioans can keep holding their elected officials accountable at all levels of government and run against the two major parties themselves.”

Results remain unofficial

While none of the local outcomes will change, all results are unofficial until certified by the board of elections. The Van Wert County Board of Elections will meet on Thursday, November 19, to certify the local results.