Thursday, December 02, 2004
Summary of provisional ballots count - UPDATED 12/2/04
Note: 88 of 88 counties have reported.
Current % of provisionals being counted: 79%
Please note: Several counties have not yet reported how many of their provisionals were counted.
Current "additional" vote count:
Bush +61,505
Kerry +79,482
Difference: Kerry+17,977
Allen Co:
Darke Co:
Defiance Co:
Delaware Co:
Erie Co:
Fairfield Co:
Fayette Co:
Franklin Co:
Fulton Co:
Gallia Co:
Geauga Co:
Greene Co:
Guernsey Co:
Hamilton Co:
Hancock Co:
Hardin Co:
Harrison Co:
Henry Co:
Highland Co:
Hocking Co:
Holmes Co:
Huron Co:
Jackson Co:
Jefferson Co:
Knox Co:
Lake Co:
Lawrence Co:
Licking Co:
Logan Co:
Lorain Co:
Lucas Co:
Monroe Co:
Morgan Co:
Morrow Co:
Muskingum Co:
Noble Co:
Ottowa Co:
Paulding Co:
Perry Co:
Pickaway Co:
Pike Co:
Portage Co:
Preble Co:
Putnam Co:
Richland Co:
Ross Co:
Sandusky Co:
Scioto Co:
Seneca Co:
Shelby Co:
Stark Co:
Summit Co:
Current % of provisionals being counted: 79%
Please note: Several counties have not yet reported how many of their provisionals were counted.
Current "additional" vote count:
Bush +61,505
Kerry +79,482
Difference: Kerry+17,977
Allen Co:
- According to elections officials, 1,098 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,326 cast. The results are Bush +956, Kerry +661
- According to elections officials, 192 provisional ballots were okayed out of 258 cast. The results are Bush +173, Kerry +91
- Allen County has the region’s most provisional ballots, more than 1,300, and won’t certify its ballot until Dec. 1, the state-set deadline to do so. (Lima News)
- According to elections officials, 522 provisional ballots were okayed out of 631 cast. The results are Bush +345, Kerry +210
- "Voters with questionable addresses helped bring Ashtabula County’s provisional ballot count to an early halt Wednesday morning, Board of Election directors said. Acting on the advice of attorneys, including County Prosecutor Thomas Sartini, the board postponed the count to Nov. 29, said Richard Hornstein, director [. . . ]
At issue are questions surrounding the addresses of some people who voted with a provisional ballot. [. . .]
Upon receiving a provisional ballot, which contains the address of the voter, the election board sends a post card to the address to double-check residency. Since the election, more than 20 of the board’s post cards have been returned as undeliverable, Hornstein said. The board wants to know why the voters aren’t receiving mail at the addresses they put on their provisional ballots. “We’ve got to verify (residency),” said Art Vensel, election board deputy director.[. . .]
Originally, officials said 1,142 provisional ballots were received at the board office. Employees will recommend the board disallow 204 of those ballots for a lack of voter registration, vote signature or incorrect precinct, Hornstein said.
Brobst said he retain private counsel from Columbus to “make sure every vote is counted.” (Star Beacon)
- According to elections officials, 943 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,172 cast. The results are Bush +418, Kerry +516
- According to elections officials, 2,210 provisional ballots were okayed out of 2,541 cast. The results are Bush +935, Kerry +1,628
- According to elections officials, 573 provisional ballots were okayed out of 650 cast. The results are Bush +575, Kerry +171
- According to elections officials, 617 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,067 cast. The results are Bush +314, Kerry +318
- Comparing information posted 11/16/04 at the Brown Co. Board of Elections and the Ohio SOS website, the provisionals/late absentee changes are Bush +167, Kerry +82. According to elections officials, 247 provisional ballots were okayed out of 326 cast.
- On 11/16/04, Butler County started its review of 6,431 provisional ballots and 33 "overseas" absentee ballots. (Journal-News, 11/17/04)
- According to elections officials, 4,760 provisional ballots were okayed out of 6,434 cast. The results are Bush +3,131, Kerry +2,049
- Belmont County had an alarmingly high rejection rate - 42% - by far, the highest of all of the reported counties and nearly twice the average of other counties. The next closest county is apparently Lorain County with a rejection rate of 32%. The average of reported counties is a 22% rejection rate.
This ultra-high rejection rate deserves more investigation if for no other reason than it being such an an exception to the norm.
- According to elections officials, 240 provisional ballots were okayed out of 301 cast. The results are Bush +164, Kerry +108
- "The Champaign County Board of Elections said 514 provisional ballots were counted. . .
There were 41 provisional ballots not counted. . . " (Springfield News-Sun). Election officials report that the results were Bush +286, Kerry +215.
- Election officials reported that out of 1564 provisional, 405 were rejected. This number, however, conflicts with 1279 provisionals reported at the SOS website. The results are Bush +481, Kerry +679.
- According to elections officials, 1,479 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,840 cast. The results are Bush +1,252, Kerry +567. BOE officials had no explanation for why their Nov. 2 result numbers are not the same as those reported by the Sect. of State.
- Comparing information posted 11/16/04 at the Clinton Co. Board of Elections to the Ohio SOS website, the provisionals/late absentee changes are Bush +313, Kerry +173. According to elections officials, 344 provisional ballots were okayed out of 375 cast.
- According to elections officials, 1,173 provisional ballots were counted but were surprisingly unable to report how many they started with. According to the Secretary of State's website, the county had 1,085 provisional ballots submitted, which makes the 1,173 number questionable. It may be possible that the 1,173 includes overseas absentee ballots, be we are unable to verify this and county officials claim they will not have additional information available. Oddly, the results are identical: Bush +542, Kerry +542.Elections officials were asked about the totals changing by the same amount for each candidate, but they stood by those numbers. Although statistically a long shot, this same phenomenon occurred in Lake Co.
- According to elections officials, 254 out of 269 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +156, Kerry + 115
- According to elections officials, 380 out of 425 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush + 218, Kerry + 147
- "So far, about two-thirds of those votes have been deemed legitimate, but those numbers could change."
(Plain Dealer)
"Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is located, has processed 40 percent, or 9,719 votes, of its 24,788 provisional ballots and rejected a third, according to a board tally. Most are being rejected because the voters were not registered." (AP)
- The Plain Dealer reported 11/23 that approximately 1/3 of the provisional ballots are being rejected.
- According to elections officials, 16,058 out of 25,309 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +5,982, Kerry + 15,224. Note, the number of provisionals received is slightly higher than that used by the Plain Dealer (25,309 versus 25,302).
- According to elections officials, 642 out of 717 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +433, Kerry + 185
- According to elections officials, 542 provisional ballots were okayed out of 672 cast. The results are Bush +385, Kerry +292
- According to elections officials, 1,463 out of 1,879 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +905, Kerry + 551
- According to elections officials, 838 provisional ballots were okayed out of 972 cast. The results are Bush +583, Kerry +756
- According to elections officials, 1,117 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,542 cast. The results are Bush +640, Kerry +453
- According to elections officials, 249 provisional ballots were okayed out of 295 cast. The results are Bush +154, Kerry +90
- According to information in the Dispatch and the SOS website, 12,109 provisional ballots were okayed out of 14,446 cast. The results are Bush +3,056, Kerry +9,427. Note: These total reportedly include the correction to the nearly 4,000 extra votes erroneously registered for Bush out of a Gahanna precinct.
- According to elections officials, 324 provisional ballots were okayed out of 388 cast. The results are Bush +196, Kerry +126
- According to elections officials, 376 provisional ballots were okayed out of 452 cast. The results are Bush +257, Kerry +176
- ". . . elections officials determined Tuesday that 77 of the 669 provisional ballots were not valid." (Plain Dealer, 11/17/04)
- According to elections officials, 597 provisional ballots were okayed out of 669 cast. The results are Bush +401, Kerry +269
- According to elections officials, 1,766 out of 2,127 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +1,536, Kerry + 1,181
- According to elections officials, 511 provisional ballots were okayed out of 558 cast. The results are Bush +866, Kerry +696
- "Hamilton County has sorted through almost 13,000 of its [13,976] provisional ballots, Williams said. He hasn't totaled those rejected but said he expects 20 percent to 30 percent to ultimately be found invalid.
The elections staff expects to finish checking provisional ballots by Friday. Starting Monday, bipartisan teams will inspect each ballot for "pregnant'' and "hanging chads'' as well as torn ballots and other irregularities. Tuesday evening or Wednesday, the regular and provisional ballots will be fed through the punch-card-counting machine for the official count. The elections board will meet after Thanksgiving weekend to officially certify the ballot." (Enquirer, 11/17/04)
- Based on stories in the Enquirer and Post, Hamilton County unofficially rejected about 3,000 of its 13,976 provisional ballots. The results are reportedly to be Bush +6,765, Kerry +8,543
- "Elections workers received 848 provisional ballots - formerly called 'walk-in ballots' - but only officially counted 809, as 39 provisional voters who claimed to be registered were not . . . President Bush received a total of 756 more votes - both provisional and corrected 'overvotes' - pushing his vote total in Hancock County to 25,101 votes. Kerry received 413 more . . ." (Findlay Courier)
- According to elections officials, 301 provisional ballots were okayed out of 342 cast. The results are Bush +249, Kerry +166
- According to elections officials, 86 provisional ballots were okayed out of 89 cast. However, elections officials also say they had a problem with their Nov. 2 tally with an overcount of absentee ballots in at least one precinct. We know of no newspaper coverage of this problem. Therefore, even with the addition of the provisional ballots, Harrison County's numbers are less than its Nov. 2 numbers. The results are Bush -45, Kerry -45
- According to elections officials, 213 provisional ballots were okayed out of 249 cast. The results are Bush +131, Kerry +83
- According to elections officials, 404 provisional ballots were okayed out of 466 cast. The results are Bush +341, Kerry +182
- According to elections officials, 216 provisional ballots were okayed out of 248 cast. The results are Bush +124, Kerry +108
- According to elections officials, 165 provisional ballots were okayed out of 173 cast. The results are Bush +167, Kerry +73
- According to elections officials, 556 provisional ballots were okayed out of 670 cast. The results are Bush +281, Kerry +229
- According to elections officials, 397 provisional ballots were okayed out of 447 cast. The results are Bush +203, Kerry +180
- According to elections officials, 618 provisional ballots were okayed out of 650 cast. The results are Bush +297, Kerry 345
- According to elections officials, 605 provisional ballots were okayed out of 679 cast. The results are Bush +404, Kerry +215
- According to elections officials, 1,813 provisional ballots were okayed out of 2,014 cast. The results are oddly identical: Bush +1578, Kerry +1,578. Elections officials were asked about the totals changing by the same amount for each candidate, but they stood by those numbers. Although statistically a long shot, this same phenomenon occurred in Columbiana Co.
- According to elections officials, 517 provisional ballots were okayed out of 601 cast. The results are Bush +279, Kerry 237
- According to elections officials, 1.321 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,541 cast. The results are Bush +922, Kerry +701
- According to elections officials, 575 provisional ballots were okayed out of 651 cast. The results are Bush +387, Kerry +181
- The Elyria Chronicle Telegram on 11/23 reported that, "About 1,264 of the 4,000 provisional and absentee ballots from the Nov. 2 election were rejected by the Lorain County Board of Elections on Monday. " Actually, the SOS website reports that Lorain County had 4,134 provisional ballots. That means the county had a fairly high rejection rate - 68%.
The reasons for rejecting the provisionals suggest further investigation should be conducted. For example, the story reports:Of the 1,264 ballots rejected, 702 provisional ballots were thrown out for improper registration. That number also included those voters who had not cast a ballot since the 1992 presidential election.
Clearly, a major portion of the referenced "702" is a little mysterious. Although it is stated that some of these are ballots cast by "inactive voters," that would be an extraordinarily high percentage. In nearly all other counties, the largest percentage of rejected provisionals is due to ballots cast in the wrong precinct. Here, however, these amounted to 160 and are apparently not part of the 702. Further, some of the reasons for rejection seem flimsy and other counties, e.g., Madison, have gone to special lengths to count every possible provisional ballot. If nothing else, this again raises the issue of the lack of specific, uniform and enforceable guidelines for the county BOEs to use to evaluate the provisionals.
The board also accepted a number of questionable absentee ballots, such as those in which voters made simple errors. Two absentee voters were provided military envelopes in error, for instance, while another voter made his selections on the voting booklet rather than the ballot.
Jacobcik said that a Democrat-Republican team would evaluate cases in which the board thought voter intent could be determined.
Other significant provisional and absentee ballots that the board rejected included:
• 160 voted in the wrong precinct
• 14 did not provide a new address
• 190 did not provide an old address
• 11 had cards returned by the post office
• 93 failed to sign ID envelopes
• 8 did not return ID cards
• 16 returned ballot cards without stubs
- Election officials have not released data on the number of provisional ballots counted, but the Elyria Chronicle Telegram reports that 3,048 out of 4,134 were counted. Election officials report that the results are Bush + 1,445, Kerry +2,453
- "Of the 6,435 provisional ballots cast in Lucas County on Election Day, less than half - 3,124 - have been determined by elections officials to be valid." (Toledo Blade)
- According to the Toledo Blade, the results of the count of the provisional ballots are Bush +1,701, Kerry +3,662
- Although elections officials have posted updated elections numbers, there still remains some problems with the count including at least one case where an elderly couple voted twice.
- According to elections officials, 334 provisional ballots were okayed out of 392 cast. The results are Bush +189, Kerry +120
- According to elections officials, 2,351 provisional ballots were okayed out of an estimated 2,700 cast. The results are Bush +744, Kerry +1,569
- According to elections officials, 803 provisional ballots were okayed out of 898 cast. The results are Bush +442, Kerry + 438
- According to elections officials, 939 out of 1,266 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +684, Kerry + 539
- According to elections officials, 225 out of 243 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +117, Kerry + 103
- According to elections officials, 852 provisional ballots were okayed out of 931 cast. The results are Bush +624, Kerry +191
- Election officials haven't released data on how many provisionals were counted, but they report that the results are Bush +966, Kerry +572
- "In Montgomery County, 6,125 of the 8,000 provisional ballots processed so far are valid. Of the 1,875 invalid ballots, more than 1,000 were rejected because the people were not registered and 685 were rejected because voters went to the wrong precinct, according to the board. The board still has to count 1,227 ballots." (AP)
- According to elections officials, 7,375 out of 9,257 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +3,645, Kerry + 4,715
- According to elections officials, 130 provisional ballots were okayed out of 132 cast. The results are Bush +54, Kerry +77
- According to elections officials, 130 provisional ballots were okayed out of 169 cast. The results are Bush +62, Kerry +63
- According to elections officials, 284 provisional ballots were okayed out of 309 cast. The results are Bush +162, Kerry +124
- According to elections officials, 874 provisional ballots were okayed out of 874 cast. The results are Bush +350, Kerry +371
- According to elections officials, all of Noble Co.'s provisionals were counted Nov. 2 so there is no change to their numbers. Of the 75 provisionals in the county, 73 were deemed okay for voting.
- According to elections officials, 413 provisional ballots were okayed out of 472 cast. The results are Bush +255, Kerry +199
- According to elections officials, 204 provisional ballots were okayed out of 234 cast. The results are Bush +131, Kerry +66
- According to elections officials, there were problems with the initial count reported to t he SOS office was in error because one precinct was counted twice. Officials say they later noticed that the precinct had a 127% turnout. So, even though the BOE counted 356 out of 431 provisional ballots, the results are only Bush +88, Kerry +52
- The provisional ballot outcome deserves some further investigation given the other problems with this county's count. While Kerry gained 48% of the vote in the regular election, he only gained 37% of the provisional ballots. This 11% difference is by far the greatest shift and, although not impossible, it is highly improbable.
- According to elections officials, 425 provisional ballots were okayed out of 553 cast. The results are Bush +296, Kerry +190
- According to elections officials, 260 provisional ballots were okayed out of 285 cast. The results are Bush +134, Kerry +124
- According to elections officials, 1,284 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,452 cast. The results are Bush +531, Kerry + 759
- According to elections officials, 333 provisional ballots were okayed out of 393 cast. The results are Bush +164, Kerry +108 Bush +221, Kerry +109
- In Putnam County, the board has been verifying its 246 provisional ballots, will count them Monday and Tuesday [Nov. 15 & 16] and certify. (Lima News, 11/16/04
- According to elections officials, 218 provisional ballots were okayed out of 246 cast. The results are Bush +174, Kerry +44
- "Tuesday, the board tallied 1,212 validated provisional ballots. On election day, 1,357 were cast, but 145 were ruled invalid when they were reviewed by the board last week. Of those, 28 were from voters registered in Richland County but casting votes in the wrong precinct, 92 were not registered in Richland County and 25 were not registered in another county as they claimed. The presidential vote on those provisional ballots reflected almost exactly the percentages of the general vote, with 610 favoring President Bush and 578 going for Sen. John Kerry. (News-Journal, 11/17/04)
- According to elections officials, 532 provisional ballots were okayed out of 569 cast. The results are Bush +289, Kerry +276
- According to elections officials, 541 provisional ballots were okayed out of 627 cast. Sandusky County, however, had a problem with duplicate vote counts such that their Nov. 2 numbers were in excess of the real numbers. After correcting this error and adding the provisional ballots, the final numbers actually decline. The results are Bush -1,629, Kerry -1,256
- According to elections officials, 723 provisional ballots were okayed out of 887 cast. The results are Bush +319, Kerry +385
- According to elections officials, 435 out of 494 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +261, Kerry + 188
- According to elections officials, 577 provisional ballots were okayed out of 791 cast. The results are Bush +379, Kerry +197
- According to information at the Stark Co. BOE website, after the provisional ballots/late absentees were counted, the results are Bush +2,352 and Kerry +3,043
- "Director Bryan Williams said his staff has found that about 10 percent of the 5,932 provisional ballots in the county are invalid." (Plain Dealer)
- "'It's still safe to say 90 percent or more of the provisionals cast will qualify for counting. Ten percent or less, based on what we're seeing, will be disqualified for one reason or another,' he said" (Beacon Journal)
- "About 1,200 provisional ballots were rejected Tuesday by the Summit County Board of Elections, where much of a morning meeting was devoted to a separate debate about dimples and piercings." (Plain Dealer, 11/17/04)
- Officials from the Summit County Board of Elections say it will be at least another day before they have a final tally of how many provisional ballots cast in the Nov. 2 election can be verified . . . Initial estimates are that about 20 percent -- roughly 1,200 votes -- won't be verified, mainly because they were cast by people who were not registered to vote. (Beacon Journal, 11/18/04)
- According to the Plain Dealer and the Beacon Journal, the results of counting the provisional ballots are Bush +2,369, Kerry +3,681
- We have received further clarification. Now, according to elections officials, 2,033 provisional ballots were okayed out of 2,700 cast. The results are Bush +756, Kerry +1,352. Earlier officials had reported that only 1850 provo ballots had been validated.
- According to elections officials, 854 provisional ballots were okayed out of 987 cast. The results are Bush +466, Kerry +394
- According to elections officials, 396 provisional ballots were okayed out of 440 cast. The results are Bush +276, Kerry +119
- According to elections officials, 272 provisional ballots were okayed out of 295 cast. The results are Bush +194, Kerry +68
- According to elections officials, 97 out of 129 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +55, Kerry + 39
- 2,200 (87%) of the 2527 provisional/absentee ballots were counted. County officials said 600 absentee ballots were late in arriving. 271 provisionals were excluded because the voters weren't registered and 56 weren't permitted because they were case in the wrong precinct. (Enquirer)
- Comparing information posted 11/15/04 at the Warren Co. Board of Elections and the Ohio SOS website, the provisionals/late absentee changes are Bush +1,512, Kerry +644
- According to elections officials, 556 provisional ballots were okayed out of 643 cast. The results are Bush +451, Kerry +338
- Comparing information posted 11/23/04 at the Wayne Co. Board of Elections and the Ohio SOS website, the provisionals/late absentee changes are Bush +446, Kerry +331. According to elections officials, 785 provisional ballots were okayed out of 889 cast.
- According to elections officials, 643 out of 697 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +407, Kerry + 250
- According to elections officials, 2,192 out of 2,661 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +1,018, Kerry + 1,185
- According to elections officials, 107 out of 138 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +300, Kerry + 153
- The Sect. of State's list of provisional ballots, by county, is located here, but has not been updated from Nov. 3.
