<aside> <img src="/icons/bell_blue.svg" alt="/icons/bell_blue.svg" width="40px" /> Below is general summary of the potential election administration vulnerabilities identified in Ohio.
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Ohio law clearly outlines election processes and includes a number of protections in place to safeguard canvassing and certification from those seeking to undermine democracy and circumvent election results.
Below, we highlight areas that have been targeted in the past and potential areas that may be vulnerable this election cycle.
The vast majority of Ohio’s election administrators are dedicated public servants who have sought to make sure no voter is disenfranchised. However, Informing Democracy reviewed Ohio County Board of Elections members and Directors and Deputy Directors to identify officials who could pose a threat to free and fair elections. There were concerning findings in the backgrounds of 39 of the 528 Ohio officials researched — or 7% — spread across 33 of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Additionally:
During our research we found that a handful of election officials in Ohio appeared to believe that Trump should be above the rule of law and that investigations into his behavior were election interference.
Deploying election workers to polls across the country has become a key focus of national and state Republican Party officials in advance of the 2024 election. The party plans for an “Election Day army” of 100,000 poll workers, election monitors, and lawyers. The goal of the recruitment ramp-up is to combat “election fraud” and follows Trump’s call in December 2023 for his supporters to “guard the vote” and to “watch those votes when they come in.” In August 2024, Republicans held a recruitment effort training session at the party’s Ohio headquarters.
The evenly divided partisan composition of Boards of Elections could lead to deadlock votes down party lines. A tied vote, for example over the decision of whether to certify an election, could interfere with and cause delays in election processes. Per Ohio law, if there is a tie vote or a disagreement that can not be resolved among the members of a Board of Elections, the Director of the Board of Elections must submit the controversy to the Secretary of State no later than 14 days after the controversy arises — and the Secretary of State summarily decides the matter.
Significantly this remedy depends on a strong Secretary of State dedicated to repudiating anti-democracy and election denial strains of thought. If the individual in the office supports the Board of Elections’ refusal to certify results, then the only other apparent remedy is a writ of mandamus through the courts.