Ohio early voting: Area election boards reports high turnout in first week
Oct. 20—Area county board of elections are seeing a busy start to early voting for the Nov. 7 general election, with both statewide and local issues driving voters.
Early voting in Ohio began on Oct. 11. Voters will decide on enshrining the right to an abortion in the Ohio Constitution, whether to legalize recreational marijuana, and numerous local issues and candidates.
>> Clark County sees huge increase in early voting turnout
Warren County Board of Elections director Brian Sleeth said that less than a week into early voting, his office has seen almost the same number of in-person and by mail early voters that it saw in total for the Nov. 2, 2021 election — the most recent election similar to this one.
In 2021, the election board handled less than 9,500 ballots throughout the general election early voting season. As of Wednesday this week, the board has received 7,650.
"I can only assume the increase is due to both state issues on the ballot," said Sleeth. "I am not surprised at all and we have planned for at least a 50% turnout."
In Montgomery County, election board officials projected a busy early voting season and a high voter turnout, possibly 50% or more. Montgomery County Board of Elections director Jeff Rezabek said his county was busy during the August special election, which had voters casting ballots on a single issue related to how Ohio's constitution can be modified.
"I think we expect to see the same energy," he said.
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As of Wednesday, Montgomery County's election board has handled 10,961 ballots. A total of 2,818 of these were in-person voters, according to election board data.
This is almost outpacing all ballots, in-person and by mail, received in the November 2021 election: 11,588.
Montgomery County deputy director Russ Joseph said his office has seen a steady stream of voters, with 450 to 500 people stopping in daily so far.
Miami County Elections Director Laura Bruns said Wednesday her office has handled 2,869 ballots so far, including 1,408 in person voters processed. For the same period in the 2021 general election, 575 ballots were handles.
But that election did not include any statewide issues, Bruns said.
She expects this year's early voting "to well exceed" what was seen in 2021, she said. She described the voter turnout so far as "pretty steady."
In Greene County, election officials are reporting an uptick in early voters, too. As of mid-week, that office has handled 5,588 ballots. Roughly 2,400 of these were from in-person voters.
"It is definitely up from the last election and last general, and we expect that it will get busier in the last week of voting," said Greene County Board of Elections director Alisha Lampert.
County election boards are seeking poll workers ahead of Election Day. Anyone interested in serving as a poll worker can contact their county's election board.
Polling locations will open across the state at 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 7 and stay open until 7:30 p.m.
Nancy Bowman, London Bishop and Ed Richter contributed to this report.
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In-person early voting in Ohio
Early voting hours for the Nov. 7 general election are the following:
October 20: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
October 23-27: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
October 30: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
October 31: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
November 1-3: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
November 4: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
November 5: 1-5 p.m.
