Now that we can safely watch TV without being flooded with campaign ads, political signs are hopefully down, unwanted text messages/phone calls have stopped, and our mailboxes are no longer full of candidate mailings. It is time to accept the results of the election and thank the real heroes of the 2022 General Election.

The election judges of both political parties work long hours to ensure our elections are conducted in a transparent, fair and accurate manner. When our election judges come to work, they leave their political beliefs outside the door and focus on the job at hand. Although they may have quite different political views, they put that aside and work to make sure all our voices are heard. 

These workers are your neighbors, folks you see in the grocery store or attend church with — members of our community. Walking into a polling location or mail ballot counting center, no one could tell the political party of the workers. They are all working together for our democracy.

We all owe a deep debt of gratitude to the election workers who give of their time and expertise to ensure your vote is counted correctly and fairly.

The winners of this election are the citizens of Summit County because we have people that we can rely on to do the right thing.

This is the last election I will conduct in Summit County, and it has been a pleasure and honor to work these amazing people. Citizens of Summit County can rest assured that your votes were counted, and your voice was heard.