On December 10, Ohio’s Secretary of State released the official election returns. The difference in vote totals from the official vote count, and the votes counted on election night, are for the most part the provisional ballots, which take a long time to count. Comparing the election night totals with the final totals suggest that provisional ballots strongly helped President Obama, and also slightly boosted Gary Johnson.

The election night total percentages for each presidential candidate on the ballot were: Obama 50.28%, Romney 48.35%, Johnson .88%, Stein .33%, Virgil Goode .15%, Socialist Party nominee Stewart Alexander .05%, and independent Richard Duncan .23%.

The final, official vote totals yield these percentages: Obama 50.67%, Romney 47.69%, Johnson .89%, Stein .33%, Goode .15%, Alexander .05%, Duncan .22%.

Declared write-in candidate vote totals, not available until December 10, are: Mike Vargo 63, Jill Reed 23, Randall Terry 14, Susan Daniels 5, Nelson Keyton 2.

On December 10, the Initiative & Referendum Institute filed its cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, in its lawsuit against the Postal Service regulation that prevents voters from signing a petition on an interior post office sidewalk. The case number hasn’t been assigned yet, but the case is Initiative & Referendum Institute v Postal Service. The regulation permits circulators to stand on interior post office sidewalks and ask passers-by if they wish to sign a petition. But if the individual agrees, then both the circulator and potential signer must then leave that sidewalk and go somewhere else. Even the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, had a concurrence saying the existing policy didn’t make sense. But the D.C. Circuit still upheld the regulation.

UPDATE: here is the cert petition.

In November 2008, the official North Dakota election returns show that in one precinct in Grant County, North Dakota, Bob Barr (Libertarian presidential nominee) carried one of the four precincts, and placed second in the county to John McCain. See this story from four years ago for the details. Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party nominee in 2008, also did very well in that one precinct.

But in 2012, Grant County’s presidential vote was unexceptional. Gary Johnson polled 1.56% in the county, which was below his statewide showing. Virgil Goode polled .92% in the county, which was higher than his statewide showing, but not markedly so.