2016 Ohio Election Results Guide: Trump Wins Buckeye State

OHIO - Donald Trump has won Ohio, according to several television outlets. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted says that 76 percent of the state's precincts have reported and Trump has 2,366,367 votes to Hillary Clinton's 1,872,355.

Democrats were hoping to score big with a massive Get Out the Early Vote initiative but early returns show that Ohioans voted early at about the same rate they did in 2012, with 1.8 million casting their ballots. In Cuyahoga County, early voting was down with only 218,711 casting their ballots.

It's one of two gut punches the state's Democrats have suffered in recent days. The second being an Ohio 6th Circuit Court of Appeals judge refusing to enforce a federal judge's new voter intimidation laws. Those laws included banning verbally harassing voters and making it more difficult for them to reach polling places.

Voter FYI:

Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Where to Vote: Find my precinct.

On Monday, the Justice Department said it was sending poll monitors to Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton Counties to ensure that minority voters, especially, have equal access to the polls.

Clinton vs. Trump in Ohio

An illustration of how divisive an election that hinges on a handful of swing states is found in legal posturing already under way — a signal that political parties may be laying the groundwork for an election that will be decided by the courts, as it was in 2000, when Democrat Al Gore challenged Republican George W. Bush’s election and didn’t concede until after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled.

A federal judge in New Jersey asked the Michigan Republican Party and its chairwoman, Ronna Romney McDaniel, to explain the GOP’s Election Day anti-fraud plan — specifically how it plans to stop voter intimidation, prohibited in consent decrees dating back to 1982 that forbid political parties from engaging in ballot-security policing.

Those consent decrees were issued in response to efforts by the Republican National Committee to the early 1980s to interrogate and intimidate registered voters in mainly African-American precincts in New Jersey, according to the court filing.

More Election Coverage on Patch

Nearly 1.8 Million Ohioans Cast Early Ballots in 2016 Election

• Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced that an estimated 1,798,277 absentee ballots were cast statewide. Those numbers are nearly identical to early turnout in 2012.

US Department of Justice Sending Personnel to Ohio to Safeguard Polling Locations

• The US Department of Justice (DOJ) will send personnel to safeguard polling locations in Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton Counties on Nov. 8 for the general election.

Ohio Court Rules in Favor of Republicans on Voter Intimidation Case

• The Ohio 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Ohio Democratic party was unlikely to prove that the Donald Trump campaign and Ohio Republicans were actively attempting to prevent voters from casting their ballots.

New Poll Shows Donald Trump Leading Hillary Clinton in Ohio by 5 Points

• Donald Trump holds a 5 percentage point lead over Hillary Clinton in Ohio, according to the latest Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll. The poll of 589 likely Ohio voters also showed him opening up a lead with independent voters 48 to 30 percent.

Senatorial Race - Portman vs Strickland

The Associated Press and NBC News are calling the race for incumbent Senator Rob Portman. The senator was beating former Governor Ted Strickland by as much as 20 points in the most recent polls.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons