MANSFIELD — It was a prediction Matt Finfgeld didn’t mind missing on Tuesday.
The Richland County Board of Elections director forecast that just 20 percent of the county’s eligible voters would cast ballots in the Nov. 4 election.
“I would love Richland County to prove me wrong. I would accept that challenge,” he said with a laugh on Monday,
Instead, 23.39 percent cast ballots, up four percent over the most recent comparable election in 2021.
After final, unofficial vote totals were announced Tuesday night, Finfgeld said he was thrilled to see 18,130 of the county’s 77,527 registered voters cast ballots.
Four years ago, 15,995 of 81,564 registered voters participated.
“I love it,” he said. “I hope they keep proving me wrong.”
He cited good voter turnout in the:
— Madison Local School District (28.58 percent), where voters rejected an income tax levy and elected school board members.
— Village of Bellville (43.83 percent), where voters said “no” to potential cannabis dispensaries.
— City of Ontario (29.95 percent), where voters selected a new mayor and council members, as well as school board members and Springfield Township trustees.
“It was kind of what I expected in those places,” he said.
The county’s elections teams announced final, unofficial vote totals by 10:30 p.m., just three hours after polls closed, despite a number of write-in candidates.
“Our team did a good job,” he said. ‘We had a lot of people in to handle the write-in ballots.”
(Below is a PDF with the final, unofficial vote totals on Tuesday night from the Richland County Board of Elections.)