COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Election Day is over, but there is still a lot of work to be done at the Franklin County Board of Elections.
According to Aaron Sellers, a spokesperson for the board, there are approximately 30,000 absentee ballots that have yet to be returned. Absentee ballots that were postmarked by November 2 will still be counted as long as they are delivered by next Friday. Sellers told NBC4 that all but about 10 percent of those ballots are typically returned.
Elections officials are also beginning the process of counting provisional ballots, which may take several days to complete.
“It depends on the number that we have,” said Sellers. “We’re calculating that now, but we’re anticipating to certify this by the 18th of November so that we can get that on to the secretary of state’s office.”
According to the unofficial results, a little more than 69 percent of Franklin County’s registered voters voted in the election — a lower turnout than officials anticipated.
“Internally, we were thinking that the floor would be 70 percent and that we thought it could, potentially maybe get to 75 or maybe 76 percent in Franklin County,” Sellers said.
Sellers added the turnout figure is expected to slightly increase as more absentee and provisional ballots are counted.