Bipartisan Officials Cross Lake Erie toEnsure Every Vote is Securely Counted
(Columbus) – Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose today highlighted one of Ohio’s most unique Election Day operations —the secure transport of ballots from Kelleys Island to the Erie County Board of Elections.
Unlike most of Ohio’s 88 counties, election officials from Erie County must do something distinctive to complete the mission – traverse the chilly waters of Lake Erie to retrieve ballots and transport them back to the mainland.
To accomplish the task, a bipartisan team of election officials work in tandem with the Erie County Sheriff's Office and the US Coast Guard.
"It's a complex operation — but for the Erie County Board of Elections, the sheriff's office, and their Coast Guard partners, it's just another routine election night in Ohio," said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. "Every link in the chain works in concert to protect the integrity of each vote."
How do the ballots get transported?
The process begins at the Erie County Board of Elections, where a bipartisan team works with deputies from the Erie County Sheriff's Office. The deputies provide secure transportation for the bipartisan team to the Marblehead Coast Guard Station, where the officials board a Coast Guard boat and travel to Kelleys Island.
"Every vote is important, whether it is cast in the city, the suburbs, or in a small community like Kelleys Island,” said Director Alex Jones, Erie County Board of Elections. "No matter where a ballot is cast, our job is to ensure that the polls are accessible, results are accurate, and every vote is secure."
When the bipartisan team reaches Kelly's Island, they are greeted at the dock by the poll workers who transported the ballots from the polling location to the Coast Guard boat. During the transfer process, each step is fully documented and recorded by a Republican and a Democrat. Seals on the ballot box get checked, and signatures are verified.
Once the ballots are secured on the Coast Guard boat, the bipartisan elections team and the county sheriff deputy head back to the Marblehead Coast Guard Station on the mainland. Together, election officials securely transfer the sealed ballots to the Sheriff's vehicle and back to the Board of Elections.
"We are incredibly grateful for our team — from the precinct election officials in the field to the election-night crew ensuring that ballots are transported securely back to the Board of Elections,” Jones said. “They make sure we continue to meet the high standard that Ohio voters have come to expect.”
The ballots are once again verified and checked for tampering once they arrive back at the Erie County Board of Elections and securely added to the county's election night results.
"Whether in a city, a rural township, or on a cold November night in the middle of Lake Erie, the mission remains the same: every eligible Ohioan's vote must be counted — no matter where they live," LaRose said. "That is just another part of what makes Ohio the Nation’s Gold Standard of Elections."
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