By 1812Blockhouse
With 21 days until Election Day, Ohioans are showing up to vote early in record numbers – with triple the number of Ohioans voting at early voting centers across Ohio compared to the same point four years ago. 193,021 Ohioans voted early in-person in the first week compared to 64,312 at the same time in 2016.
Absentee ballot requests increased by 316,033 to a total of 2,470,268 absentee ballot applications received by county boards of elections statewide. This includes 23,853 requests from military and overseas voters. At the same time during the 2016 election, 1,245,670 absentee ballots had been requested.
“Voter enthusiasm is off the charts and we couldn’t be happier,” said LaRose. “We’ve never seen this many people voting early in-person and it demonstrates what Ohioans know to be true – it’s easy to vote in the Buckeye State!”
With 216 hours of early voting available to registered Ohioans, Ohio ranks ahead of 43 other states. We’re one of 20 states with voting on Saturdays and one of just five that allow voting on Sunday.
The release from Secretary of State Mike LaRose did not share numbers on ballots dropped off in designated receptacles or mailed in.
In Richland County, 4,175 voters have voted absentee in-person, and 20,071 absentee ballots have been ordered.
Source: Ohio Secretary of State
