Fairfield County voters turned out at 61.5 percent in the Nov. 3 general election, and the county’s unofficial canvass shows Auditor Carri Brown winning another four-year term in a landslide while voters split sharply on local tax questions, according to the Fairfield County Board of Elections.
The board’s unofficial canvass, with all 111 precincts reported, counted 68,988 ballots cast out of 112,179 registered voters. Of those, 40,438 ballots were cast on Election Day and 28,550 arrived by absentee voting, the board reported. Board of Elections Director Jane Hanley told the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette that about 30,000 people had voted by mail or in person after early voting opened Oct. 6, and that polls stayed busy all day on Election Day with no major issues.
Brown, the Republican county auditor, received 46,206 votes, or 97.35 percent, against a write-in challenge from Elaine Flinn, who received 1,259 votes, according to the board’s unofficial totals reported by the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. “I’m thinking about how grateful and honored I feel right now,” Brown told the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, adding that her office has a strategic plan through 2032 focused on service and technology. Flinn could not be reached for comment, the Eagle-Gazette reported.
Three other county officeholders ran unopposed and were returned in the unofficial count: Commissioner Jeff Fix with 45,595 votes, Juvenile/Probate Judge Terre L. Vandervoort with 44,415 votes, and Common Pleas Judge David Trimmer with 44,317 votes, according to the board.
At the top of the ticket, Fairfield County backed Republicans in the statewide races even as Democrats won several of those contests statewide. Vivek Ramaswamy carried the county for governor with 34,044 votes (49.92 percent) to Amy Acton’s 31,929 (46.82 percent), and Jon Husted carried the county in the U.S. Senate race with 34,785 votes (50.99 percent) to Sherrod Brown’s 30,259 (44.36 percent), according to the board’s unofficial canvass. State Issue 3, the photo ID constitutional amendment, passed overwhelmingly in the county, 44,537 to 18,874, or 70.24 percent yes.
Voters were far more divided on local money questions. The Pickerington Local School District’s proposed 0.75 percent income tax increase for 10 years failed by just 250 votes — 13,515 against to 13,265 for, according to the board. A 1.5-mill additional levy for the Pickerington Public Library also failed, 14,234 to 12,406. Pleasant Township voters approved a 2-mill additional levy for fire, rescue and EMS services, 1,589 to 1,460, while a Madison Township roads levy failed, the board reported.
None of these results is final. The board’s figures are the unofficial canvass from election night; the county must still complete its official canvass — including any eligible provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots — and certify the results later this month under the Ohio Secretary of State’s canvass directive. Close races, including the Pickerington school tax decided by 250 votes, will be watched through that process, and any recount questions will be settled once the official numbers are in.