Summit County canvassers certify June 25 primary after clerk reports 7,834 ballots counted

Summit County’s canvassers voted to certify the results of the June 25, 2024 primary after County Clerk Eve presented the county’s canvass report and described post‑election checks that found no discrepancies.

Clerk Eve told the board the top number in the report was “the total number of votes that have been counted, the 7,834.” She detailed ballots that were not counted: 61 were rejected because signatures did not match and could not be cured, 29 were unsigned, one ballot was from a different election, 95 were received after the statutory deadline, and five were duplicate submissions. The clerk said 12 provisional ballots were submitted and 10 of those met the qualifications to be counted while two did not.

Eve explained the state’s mailing and postmark rule: mailed ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election (June 24) and ballots received after 8 a.m. on election day without a timely postmark cannot be counted. She also described the county’s signature‑curing process: election staff must notify voters within two business days if a signature is missing or does not match; voters may cure by returning a signed affidavit in person, by mail, or by emailing a photographed affidavit, and had until 5 p.m. the day before the canvass deadline in this contest to do so.

The clerk described the lieutenant governor’s required audit procedure and said the county participated in a hand‑to‑system comparison of a statistical sample of ballots last Monday. “We had no problems,” she said, and noted the audit included independent observers and a board member acting as an observer.

Before the certification vote, the board opened the meeting for public comment. Karen Balish, who identified herself as a Summit County resident and a state and county delegate, asked the board not to verify the election until petition signatures used to qualify a gubernatorial candidate were released and checked, alleging a conflict of interest involving the lieutenant governor. The clerk responded that Balish’s concern appeared to refer to nominating petition signatures used to qualify a candidate for the ballot rather than signatures on ballots cast in the county primary, and that no formal complaints about the county’s canvass had been lodged with her office.

After the presentation and public comment, a motion to certify the Summit County primary canvass as presented was made, seconded and approved by the board. Members then moved to dismiss the board of canvassers and adjourned the meeting.

Votes at a glance: a motion to convene as the board of canvassers was made and approved; a subsequent motion to certify the June 25, 2024 primary canvas as presented was made and approved; the board then dismissed the canvassers and adjourned. The clerk will transmit the certified canvass information to the state lieutenant governor’s office as required.