Ohio certifies election results; 18 electoral college votes pledged to President Trump

COLUMBUS — A record number of ballots were cast in the 2020 Presidential election in Ohio, the majority of which were cast before Election Day even arrived Nov. 3.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose certified the state’s results Friday morning, a day before the deadline for that to happen.

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Final results showed 5,974,121 Ohioans cast ballots in this year’s election, breaking the previous record set in 2008, when 5,773,777 ballots were cast.

“We blew past that this year,” LaRose said.

Final results showed President Donald Trump won the popular vote in the state with 3,154,834 votes for the incumbent. Former Vice President Joe Biden received 2,679,165 votes.

“I’m fully confident Ohio’s voice was heard in a fair and honest election,” LaRose told News Center 7′s Katy Andersen in a one-on-one interview minutes after the results were final.

LaRose said invitations went out this morning to the 18 electors that will vote on Dec. 14 in Columbus for the Electoral College. Those electors have pledged their support for President Donald Trump.

This year’s election saw record breaking numbers for early voting likely fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, including 59 percent of ballots being cast before Election Day.

LaRose said he hopes Ohioans will continue to embrace early and absentee voting in future elections even once the pandemic has ended.

“Ohio has done it right over the years,” he said. “It’s easy to vote in the Buckeye State.”

The secretary said he hopes the legislature will consider moving up the deadline to request an absentee ballot for elections to a week before election day, instead of the current three days, due to the processing and mailing time to send out a ballot.

Ohio this year had a 0.42% ballot rejection rate, which is an improvement from the last election.

Cox Media Group