Early voting brought high turnout driven by Ohio Issues 1 and 2

Early voting turnout for Tuesday's election exceeded the turnout in the August special election..

Nearly 854,900 Ohioans voted early in Ohio since early voting started last month. In total, nearly 566,400 people voted early in-person and nearly 288,500 absentee ballots were returned, according to the Secretary of State’s Daily Absentee Report Counts. However, there is currently no data reported for Friday and Saturday for Cuyahoga County. early votes from August's special election.

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On Saturday, 43,390 people cast votes in-person and 7,741 absentee ballots were returned. Sunday had 35,948 people vote in-person and 2,736 absentee ballots returned.

“We are very pleased with how early voting and absentee ballots have started coming in and so forth, and we are looking forward to tomorrow,” Melanie Amato, director of communications for the Secretary of State’s office, said.

Ohio Issue 1 and Issue 2 driving turnout

Franklin County had nearly 52,500 people vote in-person throughout the early vote period and mailed out almost 48,600 absentee ballots. Aaron Sellers, spokesperson for Franklin County Board of Elections, said state Issue 1 and Issue 2 are driving additional turnout.

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“We've doubled the number of mail ballot requests (from the August special election),” Sellers said.

Hamilton County Board of Elections Director Sherry Poland said Hamilton County saw a total of over 57,400 voters, both in-person and by mail, vote early. In August, Hamilton County had nearly 53,000 voters vote early.

“Considering we still have two more days— today and tomorrow—for voters to return their ballots by mail, it'll be more than double the number that voted early by mail or in person, compared to November of 2021.”

A busy Election Day

Lines were already out the doors during the last days of early voting in Franklin County — election officials are expecting the same on Election Day.

It’s still roughly a 60% to 40% split, with 60% of people still voting on Election Day and 40% of people voting early, Sellers said. Sellers expects that turnout for this election will surpass the 38% turnout in the August special election.

Poland said the Hamilton County Board of Elections is predicting a 40% to 45% turnout overall, compared to an average 33% for odd-year elections.

Amato said it can depend on the local races if voters come out, like if they have a hot issue or candidate running, but the Secretary of State’s office is expecting great numbers for Election Day.

“Every election that we have run so far, it seems to get more and more people wanting to vote and that's what we care about most,” Amato said.

During Election Day, the Secretary of State’s office will be posting on its X and Facebook accounts to combat any election misinformation, and Amato said they’ll be responding to people that have concerns.

New voter ID law

A new state law no longer allows voters to use utility bills and other documents as identification to receive a ballot.

Now, a photo ID is required for in-person voting, either on Election Day or during the early voting period at county boards of election. To cast a ballot by mail, voters can provide a copy of their photo ID, driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.Free state IDs are available to residents at local Bureau of Motor Vehicles deputy registrar locations. More information can be found at bmv.ohio.gov.

When are the polls open in Ohio?

Polls open Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. To check your polling location, head to the Secretary of State's website.

Kayla Bennett is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism's Statehouse News Bureau.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio early voting numbers up