Voter turnout sparse ahead of primary Election Cay in Marion County

It's primary election day in Ohio. Well, part two of the state's primary election.

Due to the ongoing controversy over the re-drawing of congressional and state general assembly maps, it was decided to conduct a split primary election, with the first part on the originally-scheduled election date of May 3.

Voter turnout heading into primary day part two has been sparse in Marion County. According to the Board of Elections website, as of press time on Monday, 674 local residents had voted in person at the board of elections office. A total of 390 absentee ballots have been sent out to voters.

The Marion County Board of Elections reported that there are 39,343 registered voters in Marion County. Of that total, 27,132 people do not claim a party affiliation. The BOE website shows that there are 8,510 Republican voters, 3,684 Democrat voters, and 17 Libertarian voters in the county.

Prior to election day, 672 Republicans and 392 Democrats cast ballots in Marion County, according to board of elections statistics.

According to the Ohio Secretary of State, 67,218 votes have been cast statewide during the early voting period. Democratic Party voters have outpaced Republican Party voters 14,514 to 12,065 in votes cast in person during the early voting period.

Voter turnout for the May 3 primary election was just 23.14% with 9,102 of the 39,335 registered voters in Marion County at that time going to the polls.

The primary election ballot in Marion County is very light with the headline race featuring a battle for the Republican Party nomination in the 86th Ohio House District between incumbent Rep. Tracy Richardson and challenger Michael R. Bohland. The winner of that race will race Democratic Party candidate Barbara A. Luke of Marysville.

Richardson is serving in her second term in the Ohio House of Representatives. The former Marysville City Council member has easily won both general and primary elections in which she has run.

Bohland is a Dublin resident who has spent his entire professional career in the manufacturing and textile industry. He has worked at Honda for the past 14 years. This is his first foray into politics.

More: Richardson, Bohland vying for GOP nomination in 86th Ohio House District

More: Early voting for Aug. 2 primary election continues this week in Marion County

More: Our view: Supreme Court highlights importance of Ohio's August primary

More: Marion County residents will see another light ballot for the Aug. 2 primary election

Luke is running without opposition in the Democratic Party primary election. She is the founder of her own law firm in Marysville, Luke Lawyers.

In the 87th House District, incumbent Rep. Riordan McClain is unopposed in the Republican Party primary. There is no Democratic Party candidate on the ballot.

McClain, now in his second term in the Ohio House, won a tight race in 2018 to capture the Republican Party nomination and then easily captured the general election after earning 73% of the vote. McClain ran without opposition in the 2020 GOP primary election and cruised to victory in the general election with 76% of the vote in his favor.

Also on the ballot are Democratic and Republican party races for the 26th Ohio Senate District State Central Committee.

On the Democratic Party side, Randy Weston is the lone male candidate while Kathleen A. Nalley and Carolyn Weston are the female candidates. Tony Eufinger withdrew his name from consideration for the Democratic Party State Central Committee race.

On the Republican side, Charles A. Knight, Raymond Metzger, and Jonathan Zucker are the male candidates and Lisa Cooper is the lone female candidate.

The lone issue on the Aug. 2 ballot is the renewal of an income tax for the Cardington-Lincoln School District. Only residents of Richland Township precinct A are voting on this issue. If it passes, the 0.75% income tax would be renewed for five years.

Polling places across Ohio are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. today.

For information, go to the Marion County Board of Elections website www.boe.ohio.gov/marion or to the Ohio Secretary of State website VoteOhio.gov.

Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter 

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Voter turnout sparse ahead of primary election day in Marion County