Ohio's Most Populous County May Have Delay In Voting Process

COLUMBUS, OH — One of Ohio's most populous counties may have a delay in its voting process in Tuesday's general election.

On Tuesday morning, the Franklin County Board of Elections announced it was not able to upload all early in-person voting data into its electronic check-in system. Election officials are shifting to paper pollbooks.

The data is needed to ensure voters who cast ballots early cannot vote again on Tuesday.

Problems arose because of the unprecedented number of early votes cast in Franklin County, according to the Columbus Dispatch. When election officials attempted to sync an early voting file, it was too large and would not sync with the electronic poll books.

Every board of elections in Ohio is required to have paper pollbooks as a contingency plan, according to Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office. The move from an electronic system to a paper pollbook "will not impact the security or accuracy of today's vote," LaRose's team said.

"It's important to note that this does NOT impact voting machines in any way, and only modifies how voters are checked in," LaRose's office said in a statement.

In Ohio, early votes are allowed to be scanned but not tabulated until polls close at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Typically, early votes are the first announced in Ohio, with some results rolling in as early as 8 p.m.