Beyond Election Night: The Unofficial Count
The results you see on election night are unofficial. They are a snapshot based on votes tabulated immediately after the polls close at 7:30 p.m.. These initial numbers are gathered and reported by Ohio's 88 county boards of elections to the Secretary of State's office.. While they provide a strong indication of the outcomes, they do not include all ballots. Late-arriving mail-in ballots that were postmarked on time and valid provisional ballots still need to be processed, which is why the final, official count always takes more time.
The Real Count: The Official Canvass
The official counting process is called the 'canvass'. This is where the bipartisan county boards of elections get to work verifying the results. According to Ohio law, boards must begin their official canvass no
earlier than the fifth day after the election and no later than the fifteenth.. During this period, they reconcile the pollbooks, review and validate provisional ballots, and count valid absentee and military ballots that arrived after Election Day.. This meticulous process is designed to ensure accuracy and that every eligible voter's ballot is included in the final tally.
The First Layer of Certification: The County Boards
Once the canvass is complete, each of the 88 county boards of elections formally certifies the results for their county.. According to the Ohio Revised Code, this must be finished no later than the 21st day after the election.. These boards are the bedrock of the system, handling the local-level verification that forms the basis of the statewide result. After they declare their results, they sign the official declaration and promptly send certified abstracts—essentially, summary reports on prescribed forms—to the Ohio Secretary of State.. For local and county-level offices, the county board's certification is the final word, and they issue the certificates of election to the winners..
The Final Word: The Secretary of State
The Ohio Secretary of State serves as the state's chief elections officer.. After receiving the certified abstracts from all 88 counties, the Secretary of State's office canvasses those results for all statewide and federal offices, as well as state school board seats.. For most federal and state offices, the law directs the Secretary of State to canvass the abstracts not later than 10 days after they have been received from all counties.. Once this statewide canvass is complete, the Secretary of State declares the official winners and certifies the final election results.. For example, in the 2020 Presidential General Election, the results were certified on November 27, which was 24 days after Election Day..
Special Cases: Presidential Electors and Tied Races
The process has a few unique elements for specific situations. In a presidential election, once the Secretary of State completes the canvass, a certificate of election is immediately mailed to each presidential elector for the winning slate.. In the rare event of a tie for a county office, the winner is determined by lot (a coin flip or similar random method) by the chairperson of the county board of elections.. If a tie occurs in a statewide race, the Secretary of State resolves it by lot in the presence of the Governor, State Auditor, and Attorney General.. This ensures there is a clear, legally defined process for every possible outcome, removing ambiguity from the final declaration.
