August special election bringing in more early votes than expected around Columbus

Early voters for the August special election are turning out in bigger numbers than officials expected.

Just before noon Friday, 76 people waited outside the Franklin County Board of Elections building to cast an early vote. As of Friday morning, 4,399 county residents had already voted early. Of them, 3,058 are registered Democrat, as compared to 553 Republican and 788 Independent.

"Pretty much every day, we've had 1,400-plus voters," said Franklin County Board of Elections public information officer Aaron Sellers.

Given the attention that Issue 1 has drawn, Sellers and his colleagues anticipated a big showing of early voters. But this has been more than a big showing.

"I would say that so far, voting numbers have exceeded what we expected," Sellers said. "We've been impressed with the turnout."

And Friday's lines looked like the longest yet, he said.

A number of voters said the long line moved relatively fast. Barb Fiorini, 74, said after voting that she had been in line for 15 to 20 minutes.

It's unlikely that anyone has had to wait more than 20 or 25 minutes to vote, Sellers said. But the Franklin County Board of Elections has considered adding more check-in stations for upcoming early voting days to expedite the process.

As of 8 a.m. Friday, the Franklin County Board of Elections had also sent out 13,205 absentee ballots.

What is Issue 1?

Issue 1, the only issue on the ballot for the August special election, would change the rules for enacting new constitutional amendments in Ohio. It would:

• Require 60% of voters to pass a new constitutional amendment, instead of a simple majority of 50% plus one.

• Require citizens who want to place an amendment on the ballot to collect signatures from at least 5% of voters from the last gubernatorial election in all 88 counties, instead of the current 44.

• Eliminate a 10-day cure period that allows citizens to replace any signatures deemed faulty by the secretary of state's office.

High early voter turnout elsewhere in central Ohio

Early voter counts in neighboring counties have been up, too.

In Licking County, the average daily voter count has been around 300.

"The turnout has been pretty heavy," said board of elections deputy director Tess Wigginton. "It was a little unexpected."

In Delaware County, more than 400 people have voted each day so far, which board of elections senior manager Bronwen Evener said was "a pretty good turnout."

In Union County, vote counts for the first three days of early voting for the November 2022 general election were 168, 209 and 178, said board of elections director Brandon Clay. Counts for the first three days of early voting this week have been comparatively higher for all three days, at 185, 229 and 180.

The Madison County Board of Elections has seen 201 residents come in for early voting, said board of elections deputy director Nikki Campbell.

"We thought it was going to be slow, like normal special elections, but it's been pretty busy," Campbell said.

More: What supporters, opponents are saying about Issue 1 on Ohio's August ballot

How and where can I vote early in central Ohio?

You can vote early in-person at your county board of election. Early voting dates and times for the August special election are as follows:

• July 11-14: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

• July 17-21: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

• July 24-28: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

• July 31: 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

• Aug. 1: 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.

• Aug. 2-4: 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

• Aug. 5: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

• Aug. 6: 1 - 5 p.m.

Dispatch reporter Arianna Smith contributed to this story.

JNimesheim@dispatch.com

@JackNimesheim

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: August special election brings in more early votes than expected