COLUMBUS – Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced that 29 local elections were decided by a single vote or tied during the 2017 General Election held on November 7. This included 25 local races and four local issues.

“When we say ‘one vote matters,’ it’s not just a saying – it has proven true 141 times in Ohio over the last five years,” Secretary Husted said. “Last November’s election was another reminder why eligible voters need to be active participants in the democratic process.”

Issues and ballot questions require a majority vote in order to pass, so in the case of tie votes, the matter fails. In races determining local offices such as city council or township trustee, in the case of tie votes, winners are determined by lot. All of the races that resulted in a tie in the 2017 General Election were decided by either a coin toss or name draw.

Ahead of the 2015 General Election, Secretary Husted announced a new, statewide initiative giving every voter access to an online voter toolkit where they could view a sample of the ballot they would receive on Election Day or in the mail as an absentee ballot. This allows voters to know the choices that will be in front of them when they cast their ballot so they won’t find any surprises in the voting booth. The online voter toolkit also gives voters the ability to track their absentee ballot, find their polling location and check their voter registration.

Additionally, Ohio’s first online voter registration system went live on January 1, 2017. The 2017 primary and general elections were the first to occur following the launch of online registration. To date, more than 8,300 Ohioans have registered to vote online and more than 492,000 Ohio voters have updated their information via the internet.