Primary election early voting begins at Licking County Board of Elections office
NEWARK − Early voting for the March 19 primary election began Wednesday at the Licking County Board of Elections.
Voters will not see many contested primary races on their ballots, but there are some.
Republicans have multiple candidates for president, U.S. Senate, 5th District Court of Appeals judgeships and state representative for the 69th House District. Democrats have choices for president, Ohio Supreme Court justice and county commissioner.
The local contested races are incumbent Kevin Miller and Daniel Kalmbach in the Republican primary for the Ohio House and Bryn Bird and Daniel Crawford in the Democratic primary for county commissioner.
Heath and North Fork school districts have tax issues on the ballot for building construction, possibly increasing turnout in those areas.
Licking County Board of Elections Director Brian Mead said three people were waiting at the Board of Elections office for the start of voting at 8 a.m. Wednesday, with former Probate and Juvenile Court Judge Robert Hoover the first to cast a ballot. By about 10:30 a.m., 50 people already voted and another 10 were in the process, Mead said.
Absentee voting at the Board of Elections office, 20 S. Second St., in downtown Newark, continues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through March 8, then adds weekend hours for the final two weekends before the election.
On weekends, early voting will be available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, March 9 and 16, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday, March 17. There is no early voting March 18, the day before election day.
During the weekdays of March 11-15, early voters may cast ballots from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., but the office will be open for an additional hour, until 8:30 p.m., on Tuesday, March 12.
Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. election day, March 19, at 27 polling locations across Licking County.
Mead said he expects a total election turnout of about 35,000, including about 3,000 early in-person voters and about 3,000 early absentee-by-mail voters.
The county had 126,420 registered voters as of Tuesday afternoon, with a few hours left for residents to register and vote in the primary.
Four years ago, the county had 118,746 registered voters, but that was a much different election year.
COVID-19 changed everything in 2020, forcing the closure of all polling locations. The Ohio General Assembly set an April 28 end to the 2020 election. The voting was done by absentee ballot or limited in-person voting at the Board of Elections office.
Voting at the elections board office was limited to those with a disability requiring them to vote on the machines, those who cannot receive mail and those who did not receive the absentee ballot they requested.
Plexiglas shields were placed at the counter and marks placed on the floor showed where voters should stand to remain 6 feet apart.
The 2020 turnout, projected to be about 44% before the original Election Day, ended up at 26.6%, with 31,615 casting ballots.
In addition to voting at the Board of Elections, early voters may request an absentee ballot and mail it in or drop it off to participate in the election. Ballots may be placed in the Board of Elections drop box, at the County Administration Building parking lot entrance on South Second Street, by the close of polls on election day.
Ballots delivered in envelopes postmarked prior to the day of the election and received through the fourth day after the election will be counted on the fifth day.
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Primary election early voting begins at Board of Elections office
