OHIO — Republicans voting in person and Democrats voting by mail appears to be the trend election workers are continuing to see this election cycle. 

What You Need To Know

  • Ohio starts processing ballots by making sure signatures match 
  • They are scanned and then tabulated allowing the state to provide results early 
  • Each state has its own set of rules of pre-canvassing, processing and counting ballots
  • Some states may take longer to get results from because of their processing and tabulation process

Brianna Mack, assistant professor of politics and government at Ohio Wesleyan University, said concerns over how soon Americans get the results stems from 2020 and whether or not President Joe Biden won or not. That has left some questioning whether or not they want to vote on Election Day versus early or by mail. 

Even so, with questions surrounding election integrity or fairness in the voting process and the protection of it. It’s one reason why Mack noted officials in states like Georgia were looking to count ballots on election night and by hand. Yet, in Ohio, while rolls have been purged and questions over non-citizens voting have been raised, she said Ohio still has one of the most efficient election processes in the country.

Back in 2020, Ohio had over 6 million votes casted, and less than 30 cases of proven voter fraud.

In counties like Delaware, they always have two people — one from each party — involved in the process. She added that there are a lot of security protocols in place across the state that make it tough for any integrity issues to occur. 

As for efficiency, she indicated that the state starts opening up absentee ballots and making sure signatures match. In the process, “they lay them flat so they can be scanned properly.”

“When the final precincts close, they click tabulate,” Mack said. This allows the state to release early results on election night.