The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office says the unofficial results from the November 3rd election show 5,812,804 Ohioans voted in the 2020 General Election, breaking the all-time record of 5,773,777 set in 2008.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose says It’s important to note that there were still 155,188 outstanding absentee ballots and 156,331 provisional ballots as of Wednesday afternoon that, if legally cast, will be included in the final official results to be released upon final certification on or before November 28th.

“The old saying from my time in the military is ‘you sweat in peacetime so you don’t bleed in battle’,” said LaRose.

“Partnering with the bipartisan county boards of elections, we sweated throughout the spring and summer to boost participation in early voting opportunities, make sure voters were safe, voting systems were secure, and enough poll workers trained and ready. And it worked. Ohio shattered the record and voters proved it’s easy to make your voice heard in the Buckeye State.”

Previously, Ohios turnout record was in 2008, when 5.77 million people voted in the election that landed Barack Obama his first term.

While this year’s voter turnout is a record by sheer volume, Ohio will not set a record percentage-wise.

There are 8.1 million registered voters in Ohio, and as of Wednesday afternoon, turnout was 72 percent.

The all-time voting turnout record percentage was set in 1996, when Bill Clinton was elected president.

That year, 77.15 percent of registered voters showed up at the polls.

The number of overall cases went up and the number of active cases went down slightly in the latest COVID numbers in Hancock County.

Hancock Public Health says there have been a total of 1,377 cases as of Wednesday, which is an increase of 70 cases from Monday.

Active cases went down to 192, which is a drop of two cases from Monday.

Active cases are people who are currently under quarantine or isolation.

Total deaths held steady at 31, the same as on Monday.

Hancock and surrounding counties are all considered “high incidence” counties.

Hancock County is still at level 2, or orange, on the state’s COVID-19 alert map.

Putnam County is still at level 3, or the red level.

The new map will come out on Thursday.

Statewide, 4,071 new cases were reported on Wednesday along with 55 new deaths.

As of Wednesday, there were a total of 230,209 cases statewide and 5,428 deaths.

The Findlay Police Department says a man led officers on a low-speed pursuit after running a stop sign.

Officers say they tried to pull over Matthew Stockard, 26, of Findlay, in the 200 block of North Main Street at around 1 a.m. Wednesday.

Police say Stockard failed to stop and led police on a pursuit at speed of 20 to 30 miles per hour for about 8 1/2 miles around the outskirts of Findlay.

Police say spike strips deflated the vehicle’s tires but he kept driving.

Police say the man finally stopped on Crystal Glen Boulevard and tried to flee on foot.

Police say they struck Stockard with a bean bag round and he was taken into custody and booked at the Hancock County Jail.

A man was injured in a crash northwest of Findlay.

The crash happened at the intersection of Hancock County Road 140 and Township Road 95 at around 3:20 Tuesday afternoon.

The sheriff’s office says James Insley, 69, of Benton Ridge, was going east on Township Road 95 when he failed to yield the right of way at a stop sign and struck a truck that was southbound on County Road 140.

Insley was injured and taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital.

The driver of the truck was not injured.

Insley was issued a citation for failure to yield at a stop sign.

The Hancock County Board of Elections says 74.03 percent of registered voters cast a ballot in the election on Tuesday. In 2016, that number was around 72 percent.

In Putnam County, voter turnout in this election was 83.10 percent.

Keep in mind all results are unofficial until certified by the board of elections.

Findlay City Schools was seeking to pass a levy for the third time this year, but that levy failed by a margin of about 2,000 votes, 10,358 against it and 8,337 for it.

In the race for a Hancock County Commissioner’s seat, William Bateson defeated Melissa Kritzell.

5th District Congressman Bob Latta defeated Nick Rubando.

State Representative Jon Cross defeated write-in challenger Mary Harshfield.

The McComb Local School District levy renewal was approved by voters

In Putnam County, Lori Rayle won the race for county recorder and Vincent Shroeder won a commissioner’s race against Tim Wehri.

Michael Borer defeated Matthew Cunningham in the race for common pleas court judge.

There were several uncontested races in both Hancock County and Putnam County in this election.

One of those uncontested races was the race for Hancock County sheriff, where longtime sheriff Michael Heldman ran uncontested.

Click here for election results from Hancock County and here for results from Putnam County.

William Bateson won a seat on the Hancock County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

The Republican defeated Democrat Melissa Kritzell by a vote of 26,149 to 10,047 in the unofficial results from the Hancock County Board of Elections.

Bateson is a lifelong resident of Hancock County and is in agribusiness and now operates 750 acres in the Arlington area.

He’s been serving on the Ohio Soybean Council for eight years.

There are three Hancock County Commissioners.

Commissioners Mark Gazaraek and Brian Robertson did not run for re-election.

Bateson and Kritzell were running for one seat and Mike Pepple, a Republican, ran uncontested for the other commissioner’s seat.

Tim Bechtol is the other county commissioner.

See full election results by clicking here.

Voters once again rejected a Findlay City Schools operating levy on Tuesday.

This is the third levy defeat this year, following a defeat in the primary in April and in a special election in August.

In the unofficial results from the Hancock County Board of Elections, this latest levy failed by a vote of 10,358 against it to 8,337 for it.

The levy that the school district put before voters on Tuesday was a 3.9 mill levy, which was a reduction from the 5.9 mill levy that failed twice.

The 3.9 mill levy would have cost taxpayers significantly less than the 5.9 mill levy.

The school district says the 3.9 mill levy would have cost a homeowner $136.50 annually for each $100,000 of home value.

Superintendent Troy Roth had said, since the millage was lower, that even if the 3.9 mill levy would have passed, the district still would have had to make cuts to personnel and in other areas.

Roth issued the following statement.

Dear Findlay Community:

I want to thank our community for participating in the November election for Findlay City
Schools. The results were not as we had hoped for, and we recognize that this is a difficult
time for many in our community.

I would like to thank the community of supporters and everyone that worked hard on the
campaign. The efforts that were made on behalf of the students are to be applauded and
we deeply appreciate it.

We will continue to provide the best level of education despite our funding challenges. We
will remain transparent and keep the community informed of the cuts that will need to be
made. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make some very difficult
decisions.

The Board of Education will continue to discuss what those cuts and hard decisions will be.
We will keep the community informed every step of the way.

Click here for the full election results.

The Ohio Department of Health says a single-day record 4,229 new cases of COVID were reported in Ohio on Tuesday.

33 additional deaths were also reported statewide on Tuesday.

There are now 226,138 total cases in the state and 5,373, deaths.

Governor DeWine is asking people to help slow the spread by social distancing, wearing a mask, and avoiding large gatherings.

Hancock Public Health on Monday reported that there have been a total of 1,307 cases and 31 deaths in the county. 194 of the cases are active.

State data shows Putnam County has had 1,443 cases and 30 deaths.

Hancock and surrounding counties are all considered “high incidence” counties.

Hancock County is still at level 2, or orange, on the state’s COVID-19 alert map.

Putnam County is still at level 3, or the red level.

The new map will come out on Thursday.

Even though a record number of people voted early in this election, plenty of people are still heading to the polls on Election Day on Tuesday.

Kyle says he was in and out quickly at St. Marks United Methodist Church in Findlay.

Poll workers at St. Marks told WFIN that voting has been steady.

The St. Marks polling location includes eight precincts and has about 40 voting machines.

Polls will be open until 7:30 Tuesday night.

The City of Findlay put up its Hometown Hero banners on Monday.

The banners are in honor of local members of the military and line Main Street from Lima Street up to Center Street.

The banners include active, retired and deceased service members.

We spoke with Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn about the banners.

The banners that went up on Monday will remain in place for November, December and January.

Veterans Day is November 11th.

The mayor says even more banners will go up in May, June and July of 2021 and people who missed out on this opportunity can still order one for then.

Click here for more details on ordering a banner.

There is a $100 fee for the banner.

There is a box to check if you are unable to afford the fee and would like to be considered for sponsorship.