Local election results that were certified Monday and Tuesday appear to show that pre-election warnings of widespread voter fraud or significant voter disenfranchisement did not come to pass. Some political groups — usually conservative-leaning — warned of double-voting and challenged hundreds of voters’ eligibility. But a review of six local counties — Montgomery, Greene, Warren, Clark, Butler and Miami — where 751,795 people cast ballots shows only two cases where election officials referred a voter to the prosecutor’s office for investigation. “I don’t know where people hear these horror stories (of fraud), but we haven’t seen it around here” said Sally Pickarski, deputy director of the Clark County Board of Elections.
Other political groups — usually liberal-leaning — fought for more lenient rulings on counting provisional ballots, saying voters could be wronged if their provisional ballots were thrown out. But in those six counties, provisional ballots (which are used by voters whose eligibility is in question) were actually ruled valid at a higher rate than in the 2008 election.
According to boards of election in those six counties, 85.1 percent of provisional ballots were approved for the Nov. 6 election. Ohio Secretary of State data shows that in 2008, only 83.6 percent of those counties’ provisional ballots were validated.
“Those numbers do reflect well on how well the election was run,” said attorney Ellis Jacobs of the Miami Valley Voter Protection Coalition. “When you look at all the pieces of how an election is run, it’s very easy to get freaked out about it. There’s so many things that could go wrong, and some people … have a hard time seeing the big picture. When you look at the big picture, it works amazingly well.”
Full Article: Fears of voter fraud unfounded | www.daytondailynews.com.