TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose stopped in Lucas County Tuesday to host a meeting with the board of elections.
"The confidence of the voters is what's at stake," he said.
Lucas County has been plagued by a variety of problems over the past decade.
LaRose invited Cuyahoga County board of elections to offer mentor-ship and share best practices stressing to help improve operations in Lucas County.
"No secret there's been some missteps," he said. "There's been a history of that. It's unacceptable. It's going to end and the buck stops here."
Lucas County officials explained to the secretary of state and Cuyahoga officials the problems they faced during last month's election.
"Some places, they didn't follow the procedures for proper shutdown," one official said, "so the memory sticks then became corrupted."
Election officials had problems counting votes and said it was caused by workers' errors. But officials assured voters it won't happen again.
"We're making changes to some of the training," Lucas County director Lavera Scott said. "We are using additional resources in reference to training for some of the poll workers."
LaRose said Cuhayoga's board used to consistently face problems but has transformed into one of the best in the country. He announced it will act as a mentor to Lucas County to assure improvements.
"The way ballots are tabulated to the post election audit, all of that process, watch for the Lucas county board of elections to do it right the first time," he said. "That to me is a sign that they're taking this seriously and getting their act in order."
LaRose added if problems persist there would be consequences, but he believes change is on the horizon.
"When the world is watching next year, we're going to shine, because that's what we do," he said.