Election Day 2016 is upon us. Polls opened at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and will remain open until 7:30 p.m.
To find your polling location, call your local elections board or visit the Ohio secretary of state’s website where you may search by name.
Follow along on Ohio.com throughout the day for the latest election news, including updates from various Akron-area polling locations.
10:27 p.m.
Networks are calling Ohio for Donald Trump, with significant votes still to be counted in urban areas. However, with 77 percent of Ohio precincts counted, Trump is up by 10 points.
Trump’s victory comes in spite of Ohio GOP leadership refusing to appear with him or endorse.
9:18 p.m.
With 2.7 million votes counted, or what is likely to be half the votes cast in Ohio, the Buckeye State has turned on Hillary Clinton. Trump leads with 51.5 percent to 45.5 percent, but many of the urban counties have yet to report.
Election prognosticators are suggesting that Ohio and Florida will be very close and down to the wire, and the two states are critical to winning the election.
8:55 p.m.
With 2 million votes counted statewide — about 40 percent of the anticipated vote — Clinton and Trump are divided by one percentage point, or about 20,000 votes.
8:50 p.m.
While incumbent U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is expected to defeat challenger and former Gov. Ted Strickland by double digits statewide, Strickland is doing well in Summit County.
8:25 p.m.
The web site Slate, which collaborated in a VoteCastr exit-poll project, has projected that Clinton will win Ohio by a narrow margin. That would be a surprise turn-around in the Buckeye State.
8 p.m.
With absentee votes only, Democratic challenger Alison Breaux is leading Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Todd McKenney.
Akron Municipal Court Judge Joy Oldfield is ahead of Scot Stevenson in the second Common Pleas race. Stevenson was appointed to the seat earlier this year.
Likewise, Diana Stevenson, Scot Stevenson’s wife and the Barberton Municipal Court clerk, is trailing Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Tom Teodosio in the only contested race for the Ninth District Court of Appeals.
The Summit County Domestic Relations Court race between domestic Magistrate Ron Cable and Akron Municipal Court Judge Katarina Cook is too close to call.
7:54 p.m.
Ohio is now reporting 1.27 million early votes have been counted, and Clinton has 54 percent to 43 percent for Trump.
In Summit County, 80,442 absentee ballots have been counted, giving Clinton at 61 percent an edge over Trump at 34 percent. Libertarian Gary Johnson racked up 2 percent of the county’s vote.
7:30 p.m.
The polls in Ohio are officially closed. Check back on Ohio.com throughout the night for updates as election results come in.
6:58 p.m.
Mike West, spokesperson for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, updated the public on a gun threat at a Baptist Church and polling location in Cleveland.
“The alleged threat was made by an apparently unhappy voter who was asked to vote in his correct polling location rather than where he went to vote, which was Bethany Baptist Church in Cleveland. We had been told by Election Day workers a gun was mentioned during the time this person was at the polling location,” West wrote in an email.
“Upon further investigation by law enforcement officers who interviewed witnesses, they could not substantiate this claim and they tell us that it appears that there was some miscommunication and second hand information among our poll workers and observers that led to this complaint. The Sheriff’s Department reports there have been no threats during this Election.”
4:21 p.m.
As of 4 p.m., Irina Cable had been working the Rimer Elementary School polling parking lot for her husband, Ron, since 8 a.m. Ron Cable is running for Summit Domestic Relations judge. As it began to rain, most people passing by decline the ballot she offers, but she opens an umbrella and soldiers on.
4:02 p.m.
At Summit Christian Church on South Hawkins Avenue in West Akron, a poll worker said around 3:30 p.m. that the large number of early voters made her job “a lot easier.” About 400 voters had either voted in person before Tuesday or had requested absentee ballots in a single precinct, the poll worker said. That compared with roughly 340 ballots cast in person so far today.
3:52 p.m.
Ashleigh Gisentaner, 25, of Kenmore voted for Obama last time, but said she opted for Libertarian Gary Johnson today. She supported Bernie Sanders in the primary “because he seemed more for the lower class and the public.” Trump and Clinton are “only in it for themselves,” she said.
Gisentaner said Johnson made good points and wasn’t trying to scare anyone into voting for him or against someone else.
Her 5 yr-old son attends Rimer Elementary, the same place she voted. “We could find better presidential candidates at Rimer,” Gisentaner said.
“My 5 yr-old is in kindergarten and would make better decisions than Hillary or Trump,” Gisentaner said.
3:29 p.m.
Reports of a man blocking Tallmadge voters by wielding a Trump-Pence sign are overblown.
Tim Modzelewski just couldn’t miss the opportunity to express his support for Trump and his frustration for corrupt politics. So he took a half day at work and is at the Tallmadge Recreational Center, standing in the parking lot far from the entrance, holding one of the nine yard signs he’s accumulated this election over his head.
His girlfriend, Marie Lacey, is there for support — for Modzelewski, not Trump. She doesn’t appreciate the way Trump has talked about women. So she voted for someone else. With four hours till the polls close in Ohio, she can’t wait to put this election in the rearview mirror.
2:48 p.m.
Students at Norton Elementary School held a mock election today. In the last five elections, a Norton teacher said whoever has won the mock election has won the general election.
Students chose Donald Trump to beat Hillary Clinton with 170 to 161 votes.
2:43 p.m.
A sign on Woodlawn Avenue close to Hills and Dales Road in Jackson Township says: “Write In Candidate: LeBron James. America Is Already Great 2016.” The sign is designed like a Trump sign.
2:20 p.m.
A pollworker in Stow at Woodland Elementary School estimated that by 1:30 p.m. roughly 60 percent of registered voters had turned out to cast their ballots. A voter casting her ballot was number 351.
At times throughout the day, the line to wait was 45 minutes long.
2:15 p.m.
Sue Whittaker, 52, was heading into the Lake Anna YMCA at 2 p.m. and said she still didn’t know who would get her vote.
“I’m definitely not voting for him, but I may not vote for her either,”Whittaker said, referring to presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. “I may write in Mickey Mouse.”
Whittaker said Clinton campaign workers knocked at door twice in the last tw days, trying to win her support by saying Clinton “exonerated of any wrongdoing.”
“Maybe I’ll write in Bernie Sanders,” Whittaker said, her voice tinged with a hint of New England accent. “I’m originally from Boston after all.”
2 p.m.
At the Lake Anna YMCA polling location in Barberton, Donna Lovas, locations manager of Summit County Board of Elections, said the location is in a lull.
“Wait until 3, all the people who couldn’t come until they could pick up kids from school, all first shift workers will be here,” Lovas said.
Lovas expects to be busy from 3 p.m. to poll closing.
1:39 p.m.
At the Tallmadge Recreational Center, voting in precinct 3-C was smooth and without a problem, a voter said. He was voter number 280 to have voted.
1:11 p.m.
At the Ellet High School polling location, voters over the noon hour said they were surprised at how light voter turnout was today.
Ed Smith, who was holding a sign supporting Common Pleas Judge Todd McKenney and who supports Donald Trump, said Trump “speaks the language of the people.” Smith, who lives in Ellet, describes himself as fiscally/socially conservative & doesn’t like some of what Trump has said, including about trade. Smith said he’s surprised at how many in working class Ellet are flipping party lines to vote for Trump, “like Reagan Democrats.”
“I don’t know if it will be enough,” Smith said. “But it feels like he’s started a movement.”
Chris Callahan, 57, showed up at Ellet High happy to vote for Clinton. “I feel she’s got a bad rap over the years.”
“If it wasn’t for the Clintons, the GOP would have held the White House since Reagan...and GOP doesn’t like that and comes up with a lot of BS.”
Callahan said Clinton signs have been torn out of his yard this year and said he’ll be glad when contentious election over. He predicts a big Clinton victory and hopes she first tackles jobs, then the cost of college education.
Lynn Byers picked up 157 anti-fracking signatures outside the Ellet High School polling place between 9:30 and 12:30 today. Only two people who stopped refused to sign, she said, and 1 of those said he worked in fracking industry.
12:37 p.m.
A Monday evening decision by Secretary of State Jon Husted broke a tie vote at the Summit County Board of Elections, sending Democrats in search of Election Day help before the sun came up Tuesday. Husted sided with Republicans in blocking Democrats from hiring non-Ohio residents to answer phones on Election Day.
The ruling applies only to Summit County and was decided not on merit but on “expediency”, Husted ruled.
Read the full story here.
12:37 p.m.
When Beacon Journal sports columnist Marla Ridenour arrived at her polling location at the Eaton Estates recreation center in Sagamore Hills around noon, the lines were short.
She was in and out in 10 minutes, however said the line for her precinct started to pick up as she left.
“I’ve seen more people there in non-presidential years. No protestors nearby (which I expected), no signs outside for the candidates. Just VOTE HERE on the sidewalk leading into the complex. Was a quiet, serious atmosphere.”
11:45 a.m.
Spirit Airlines, which launches its new service at Akron-Canton Airport on Thursday, is offering voters at the John Torok Community Center in North Canton, 4224 Massillon Road a different kind of break.
The airline put up a 20x20 tent and is offering free food, massages and a virtual reality mask to see scenes of Florida until 7 p.m.
“We understand that Ohio is usually a swing state and it gets bombarded with election ads and candidates coming through and traffic because of motorcades.,” said Spirit Airlines spokesman Paul Berry. “We decided to promote our new service out of Akron-Canton Airport on Thursday. Let’s give the people of Northeast Ohio an opportunity to escape the election.”
Berry said the reaction has been welcomed by voters, though they’re not sure what to expect when they first walk into the tent.
“Some of them are like ‘Why are you doing this?’ That gave us the opportunity to explain. It’s been fun. Everybody who goes into the tent is not sure what to expect, but when they come out, they’re happy,” said Berry.
Earlier today there were some people handing out political literature outside the polling place, but not around noon, he said.
“The only thing we’re pitching here is Florida,” he said of the plastic flamingoes, beach chairs and steel drum band.
On Thursday, Spirit will begin daily service to Orlando International Airport and Fort Lauderdale and seasonal service several times a week to Tampa. Seasonal service to Fort Myers begins on friday. On April 27, it will begin daily service to Myrtle Beach (seasonally) and year-round service to Las Vegas. At that time, Tampa and Fort Myers will end for the season.
11 a.m.
Tallmadge voter Angela Neal said the ballot scanner at the First Congregational Church is malfunctioning. Voters there are being asked to dropped their ballots into a slot to be counted later.
10:45 a.m.
A voter in the village of Seville said voting at the Presbyterian church on state Route 3 near downtown was smooth.
Poll workers had some difficulty finding the voter in the electronic registration, but were able to use his driver’s license ID number to verify him. That caused people to wait a bit in line behind him, so he wasn’t sure if there were similar problems, he said.
There were about a dozen people waiting in line when he left. Outside the polling location, it was quiet with no political signs and no campaigners standing outside.
At 10:12, a voter in Green said he was standing 20 people deep at the Queen of Heaven Church to vote in precinct 3D. “It’s a lot less busy than it was eight years ago,” he said.
10:20 a.m.
At the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fairlawn, an older voter was backing out of a parking place quickly about 9 a.m. and caused a three-car accident, according to Dana Saporito, who was witnessed the accident as she was handing out Democratic sample ballots outside the polling place.
The driver barely missed hitting a first-time voter, who had just taken a selfie by her car, and Saporito believes the woman could have been killed if she had not just gotten into her car.
The older voter slammed onto her brakes so hard as she backed up that she did a 180 and slammed into the first-time voter’s navy blue Mercedes SUV.
The Mercedes was hit so hard that it slammed into another vehicle, Saporito said. All three vehicles had to be towed out of the parking lot and the older drive who caused the accident was taken to the hospital.
Saporito said before that happened, at about 7 a.m., a man and a woman came to vote. The man told Saporito she was not allowed on private property and was violating the rules about the restricted distance she could be to a polling location. He called the police. When the police came, his wife said, “don’t worry he’s just a Republican.”
Saporito also saw the kindness of strangers. People who didn’t know her brought out baked goods and coffee from the bake sale inside throughout the morning.
Saporito was also standing outside with Fairlawn Councilman Joe Simonetti, who supports Fairlawn issues for term limits and housing inspection rules.
At about 10:15 a.m., Fairlawn resident Mike Sullivan rolled down his window and said “how are you doing, buddy?” to Simonetti.
Mike Sullivan’s late wife, Susan, got Simonetti into politics. A few months after she died, Sullivan called Simonetti and reminded him that Susan told him he should go into politics. He ran and won a council seat.
Simonetti gave Sullivan a big thumbs up.
10 a.m.
At the Rustic Hills Country Club in Montville Township in Medina County, a poll supervisor Donna Grella said the lines were out the door between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. There are three precincts in the location, but by 9 a.m., it was a steady stream with no line at all.
9:42 a.m.
A voter at the Parkside Church in Green on Arlington Road reports the polling location is very busy.
The voter said he was number 324 as of 9:08 a.m. and the poll worker said in her 30 years working as a poll worker, she had never seen the lines that busy so early. As the voter parked his car to walk into the polling place, Trump workers yelled to vote for Trump. A Democratic worker was there also handing out information.
Once inside, the voter said he waited for 10 minutes before he got to the voting booth.
“As I was in the booth I could hear a lady yelling outside in the parking lot that ‘Trump is the answer’,” he said. “This was the craziest time that I have ever went to vote, truly memorable! When I got home I told my 9 year old about my experience and she asked me if that is what it is like to vote all the time?, I said lets pray it isn’t!”
9:32 a.m.
Beacon Journal Features Editor Lynne Sherwin was No. 107 in Precinct 4-E at City of Joy on West Exchange Street. There was a short line for voters to find out which precincts they were in, but no wait to vote. A poll worker said the precinct had an unprecedented 100 early votes cast.
The parking lot was busy, with people passing out sample ballots for both Republicans and Democrats, and two impartial poll observers stationed in between.
9:22 a.m.
Akron police asked Ian Erne, a Donald Trump supporter who lives on Russell Avenue, to get off school property after Erne and voters called the police concerning voter intimidation. Erne arrived at 6 a.m. Tuesday at Helen Arnold Community Learning Center, an Akron elementary school where, like others in the district, classes have been canceled for the day to host a polling location.
Erne staked a large yard sign with the Republican Party emblem and passed out GOP ballot cards. He called police twice after members concerned citizens, some arriving specifically to monitor Erne, stood in front of his sign and took his flyers back from voters.
On a third visit, police determined Erne to be the problem and asked him to pass out his literature on the sidewalk outside the school parking lot. No one else was asked to leave. Read the full story here.
9:15 a.m.
At Woodridge Primary School in Cuyahoga Falls, there were no lines. Poll workers said there were lines earlier in the morning at the polling place, which only holds one precinct.
After voting, an 82-year-old woman said she was pleased that she was the 121st voter of the morning, adding that it was a higher count than previous years. However, she was surprised there were no lines to vote in such a hotly contested election.
When asked whether heavy early voting could have made a difference, she said yes and lamented that she thinks people should wait until Election Day. “I like to vote on the day of. You have to make the commitment. I feel it might be more honest,” said the woman, who voted for Trump. “Voting is truly a privilege.”
The woman also worried that people who voted early did so “before it was settled, especially in this election.”
“I voted for Trump and I’m proud of it. I’ve lived a long life and I don’t like what’s going on in our country.”
9:15 a.m.
Beacon Journal columnist Bob Dyer reported things were running smoothly at Copley High School — even after he arrived. Very little waiting. In precinct G, 178 ballots had been cast by 9:20.
Things reportedly were not running so smoothly earlier in the day. One Copley resident reported a massive traffic jam eastbound from the roundabout at Ridgewood and Hametown roads all the way to the high school, a distance of about a mile. He theorized that a paving project on state Route 18 induced drivers to cut over to Ridgewood Road.
9 a.m.
Voting was brisk, but the wait was only about 10 minutes at Presentation of Our Lord Church Romanian Orthodox Church in Copley.
Beacon Journal reporter Stephanie Warsmith said the church parking lot was much more packed than other recent elections. Surprisingly, she said, no yard signs lined the driveway in front of the church — as they have in other elections.
Voters could stop at a table just inside the church if they needed to double check their precinct. One man got irritated after these poll workers told him he was in Precinct J and he stood in line for this precinct only to be told this wasn’t his precinct. A poll worker suggested he return to the front table before hopping in another of the three precinct lines.
The line for each precinct was about five people deep, with every voting station filled. This moved swiftly, though, and voting stations opened by the time each voter was processed. Voters didn’t seem to be taking very long to vote, with no long, wordy issues on the ballot this time. Perhaps they also had made up their minds before going to the polls.
8:05 a.m.
A voter in West Akron tweeted that there was no wait when he went to vote in Precinct 8-O. However, he noted the line was much longer for Precinct 8-I. His ballot was the precinct’s 100th cast in the first 90 minutes of voting.
He also noted an election first overheard outside of an Akron polling station: “I’m waiting for my Uber.” And a young man broadcasting a Facebook Live video outside the polling place at First Baptist Church on Shatto Avenue.
7:40 a.m.
Several people who voted early reported that there were not long waits at their polling sites and they waited less than 20 minutes to cast their ballots.
A voter who voted at Woodlawn Village in Hills and Dales in Stark County reported that two of the four voting machines there broke down and a repairman had to be called in.
7:40 a.m.
Poll workers tried to keep foot traffic moving steadily at Trinity United Church of Christ in Akron’s North Hill neighborhood. Workers checked lists as voters arrived and directed them to the correct precinct rather than let a huge huddle build up around a bulletin board. Workers said voting had been steady all morning so far.
7:25 a.m.
Short line but still a longer wait than normal at a polling station in Sharon Township.
Note: The following reporters contributed to this report. Betty Lin-Fisher, Amanda Garrett, Doug Livingston, Rick Armon, Stephanie Warsmith, Marla Ridenour, Katie Byard, Bob Dyer