ROSS COUNTY, Ohio — The outcome of the local city council race in Chillicothe faces uncertainty as the Ross County Sheriff’s Office investigates allegations of election interference at the Ross County Board of Elections. The incident, involving the potential tampering of provisional ballots, has brought into question the unofficial results of the 5th ward Chillicothe City Council race.
On Friday, the Ross County Sheriff’s Office received information from an anonymous source regarding the alleged tampering with provisional ballots, specifically those related to the 5th ward race. Republican Greg McKeever had unofficially won the race on Election Night by a slim margin of five votes, with 555 votes compared to Democratic challenger Julie Thacker’s 550 votes.
The city council race is pivotal as Republicans currently hold a supermajority on the council, securing seven out of the nine seats; six wards and three at-large seats make up the council. Losing the 5th or 6th ward could potentially reduce their majority, giving Democratic Mayor Luke Feeney more influence over legislative decisions; the 6th ward’s race, between unofficial winner Dan DeMint, the Republican, and appointed-incumbent Democrat Jamie Brown is a lot closer, separating Tuesday night’s unofficial results by a mere four votes; 288 to 284.
The investigation centers around three employees within the Ross County Board of Elections — the two co-directors and an employee — and it has been revealed that much of the alleged misconduct was captured on security camera footage.
Provisional ballots, cast by individuals with registration issues on Election Day, are kept sealed in individual envelopes until the Board of Elections meets to officially certify the results. In this case, the Ross County Board of Elections is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to open and count the provisional ballots.
It has been reported that more than 20 but less than 50 provisional ballots were cast, and the election night results could be impacted if the right votes in the 5th or 6th ward change. Thacker, the Democratic candidate, needs only six additional votes to surpass the unofficial winner, Republican McKeever.
Center to the investigation of the ballot tampering investigation is Thacker’s close family member, who works at the Ross County Board of Elections, who is now under criminal investigation. The Sheriff’s office reported on Monday that three additional employees provided sworn statements alleging Thacker’s daughter, who is aligned with the Democratic party, removed provisional ballots related to her mother’s race from a secure room and took them into the office’s kitchen.
According to the witnesses, the daughter was left alone with the ballots for a “significant time” before returning them to the shelf. The removal of the ballots was reportedly caught on security camera video, although the footage has not been released to the media at this time. The video is independently held by the county’s I.T. department, who is processing a public records request for the footage. The daughter did not return a message for comment on Monday for this story.
Witnesses claimed that after the daughter’s actions, they observed that five ballot envelopes were unsealed. Another employee took it upon herself to reseal the envelopes with a glue stick, expressing concern that they should not have been opened, said witnesses, who relayed their concerns to law enforcement over the weekend.
Issues raised by election employees were initially dismissed by the director and co-director of the Board of Elections, according to the witnesses, which prompted law enforcement intervention. The Sheriff’s office has forwarded the matter to the Secretary of State, Frank LaRose. A deputy director from the Secretary’s office was seen arriving at the Ross County Board of Elections just before noon on Monday. A scene that is uncommon for a rural county so close after an election and a sign that the state is taking the concerns very seriously.
The Board of Elections Director, Traci Henness spoke briefly with the Guardian on Monday.
“I don’t know anything yet, we have the (police) report. That’s all we have at this time,” Henness said. “The first we heard of it was over the weekend.”
Ballot tampering appears to be a flaw in the election process despite the country moving to a heavily electronic system years ago. Election officials are expected to respect their positions with utmost importance and act as servants of “the people” in a democratic society. According to an Ohio Capital Journal review, LaRose took office in 2019, at which time he “referred more than 640 cases of potential voter fraud to state or county investigators.”
“Ohio’s elections are held to the highest possible standard, so we take any allegation of impropriety very seriously. We created a new election integrity unit in our office to assist law enforcement with these investigations, and that team is currently working on this matter in Ross County,” said the Secretary of State’s communications director, Melanie Amato. “While we hope to clear this up with local election officials and reassure the public that nothing improper occurred there, we’re also prepared to ensure that any evidence of wrongdoing is investigated and, if warranted, prosecuted under the law. That’s the extent of what we’re able to say while this investigation is ongoing.”
An elections expert said that no matter what, wrongdoing has been done.
“The concern is not that someone would actually change votes, but rather, that someone could fill in what are known as ‘under votes,’ or voters who left the race blank. At minimum, even if [the] daughter did not open the ballots, she thumbed through them, most likely to count and see if there were enough to change the race’s outcome, and that in itself is improper,” said Daniel Smith, an elections attorney.
The Ross County Republican Party Chairman declined to offer comment when reached on Monday, requesting to review the official law enforcement investigation before speaking to the media. Dona Mayer, the Chairwoman of the county’s Democratic party did not return a request for comment.
The Board of Elections is slated to meet tomorrow, Tuesday, November 14 to open the provisional ballots and certify the election.
This story was updated to add comment from the Secretary of State’s office at 1:45 p.m. on Monday, November 13, 2023.