Ohio’s General Election Ended With 18 Tied Races

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The November general election in Ohio ended with 18 local races in ties, meaning they had to be decided by either a coin flip or some similar method, the Ohio secretary of state’s office announced Friday.

The disclosure came upon completion of the official canvassing of the Nov. 2 election.

In all, following the official statewide canvass, 12 candidate races and six local issue races ended in ties.

Almost every candidate race was ultimately decided by a coin flip administered by the candidates’ respective county board of elections.

Issue races resulting in a tie are defeated, as Ohio law requires a majority of affirmative votes for passage. 

“In November, 18 different local races in 18 different counties ended in a tie, and any single, solitary voter would have made the difference in the outcome,” said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. 

“Every Ohioan has the uniquely American ability to impact how we are all governed, and I encourage each eligible Ohioan to register to vote and participate in every election. These election results are proof positive that your vote matters.”

Under Ohio law, the tie is broken by the board of elections to determine the winner, either by flipping a coin or by other methods, such as drawing straws, picking a name written on paper out of a hat or cutting cards. 

Following the November election, all but two of the tied races were determined by a coin flip, LaRose said. 

Fulton County and Shelby County chose to decide on the winners of the Metamora Village Council and the Jackson Center Village Council races by randomly drawing the winning name of the tied candidates.

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