Jon Stainbrook, Chariman of the Lucas County GOP, says this is part of a pattern of errors surfacing at the Lucas County BOE. According to Stainbrook, the mistake brings the results of the race for Lucas County commissioner, which Republican George Sarantou lost by just 193 votes, into question as well.
"Obviously a big gaffe and a mistake like this looks very bad, and you have no trust in the Lucas County Board of Elections," said Stainbrook.
Sarantou and supporters have been reviewing public records requests for the past couple of weeks. That's how this error was found. They also believe dozens of counted provisional ballots in favor of Sarantou's challenger, Carol Contrada, were not valid votes.
Stainbrook says, "In almost half of the precincts in Lucas County, there's sometimes more votes cast than there are voters."
Linda Howe, Director of the Board of Elections, says this typo was corrected, and the document the local GOP uncovered is merely a report, not the official certification of a winner.
Still, she admits the error was unacceptable, but she defends the board's election results. It's a claim Stainbrook can't understand in the wake of what's been found. "You claim everything is accurate and efficient. It's clearly not," he said.
It could be up to a judge to decide just how serious these issues really are. On Monday, Sarantou legally challenged the election results. A hearing has been set for January 3.
