Ohio SOS calendar sets Feb. 17-20 deadlines for Holmes County petitions, certifications

Ohio's Secretary of State publishes an official 2026 elections calendar that sets statutory deadlines for petition filings, certification of local questions, and other election-administration milestones that apply to counties including Holmes County. The calendar highlighted Feb. 17-20 as timing for primary and special-election steps that affect local petition and certification schedules.

The Original Report's supplied text includes an incomplete reference to local officials: "The Holmes County Board of Elections (the co", the sentence in the provided material is truncated and does not include the full county-level guidance or operational details.

A NASS excerpt in the supplied materials lays out Ohio canvass and certification timing in statutory terms: "County officials canvass local election returns no later than the 21st day after the election and transmit results to the Secretary of State." The same excerpt states, "The Secretary of State canvasses and declares results for state and federal offices (except state executive offices) no later than 10 days after receipt of county canvass results," and notes that "The Secretary of State issues certificates of election." Those Ohio items are cited to Ohio Code 3505-32; 34; 35; 38 in the source material.

The supplied NASS text also specifies recount filing rules that would apply to Holmes County contests. It states, "Candidates may file a recount petition with local registrars no later than 10 days following the election where the margin of victory is no more than 1/2 of 1 percent of the votes cast for that office," and it continues, "The petitions must be submitted to the Secretary of State no later than the 15th day following the election." The excerpt records signature thresholds: "For district-wide recounts the petition must be signed by 1/4 the number of voters required to sign state primary nomination papers for the office" and "For statewide recounts the petition must be signed by at least 1,000 registered voters." The NASS material further directs that "The Secretary of State must hold recount petitions until the official tabulation is made by the Governor and Executive Council" and that "Local registrars must hold the recount no later than 10 days after the deadline for filing the recount petition." The parenthetical citation appearing with the recount material in the source is listed as "(54-135)."

Statewide certification entries in the provided Eac table show Ohio with a local certification deadline of November 26 and a state certification deadline of December 6, while the same Eac row includes the note, "Local certification is expected to be complete by November 20 per Ohio Secretary of State directive." Both the November 26 table entry and the November 20 directive language appear verbatim in the supplied excerpt; the material does not resolve which date controls in every circumstance.

Taken together, the supplied calendar reference and the NASS statutory excerpts establish the sequence that will govern petition filings, local canvass transmission, Secretary of State canvass and certificate issuance, and recount procedures for Holmes County contests in the 2026 cycle. The Ohio Code citations in the materials are 3505-32; 34; 35; 38, and the recount rules and timelines are presented in the supplied text exactly as quoted above.