Ballot layout error blamed

Elections Board discusses what led to incorrect results in WH race

“While we’re grateful all votes were properly and accurately counted, errors in the reporting of results causes confusion. It’s unfair to the candidates and the voters. We certainly apologize for the error, and we’ll be working with the vendor to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

— Lake County Board of Elections Director Ross McDonald, in a statement

The Lake County Elections Board has cited a layout error in the vote totals report as the cause of an initial report being incorrect during the Nov. 5 general election.

Initial reports indicated that Peter A. Pike had won the District 2 City Council seat in Willoughby Hills. The board later corrected the initial results and reported that Tanya Taylor Draper had won the seat.

The vote totals report had come from ES&S, LLC, the vendor that supports Lake County’s election systems.

Initial results from across the county were then audited by the Elections Board. According to a news release, the corrected unofficial final results were posted at 11:39 p.m. that night.

“When preparing the ballot layout for the election in Lake County, Ohio, ES&S inadvertently placed a candidate in an incorrect position on the ballot,” ES&S said in a statement. “This mistake resulted in the initial release of incorrect unofficial election results. Once identified, the issue was corrected by performing a manual update to the contest and updated results were then correctly published.

“ES&S takes responsibility for the ballot layout mistake and apologizes to the county and the affected candidates.”

Lake County Board of Elections stated that a review by the board director and deputy director determined that no other races were affected by the layout error.

“While we’re grateful all votes were properly and accurately counted, errors in the reporting of results causes confusion,” stated Board Director Ross McDonald. “It’s unfair to the candidates and the voters. We certainly apologize for the error, and we’ll be working with the vendor to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

The release stated that the Elections Board will meet the afternoon of Nov. 19 to certify official results. In the canvass period following election day, “all eligible votes cast, including outstanding absentee and provisional ballots,” will