Low participation, high costs associated with 2nd primary

Early voting for Ohio’s second primary election of the year lags considerably behind vote totals from the first election in May with less than two weeks to go before Election Day.

Through Wednesday, 14,278 voters cast early ballots in person for the Aug. 2 primary that includes only state legislative races, party central committee members and any local issues that may be on the ballot. At the same time in April, before the normal May 3 primary, more than 23,000 votes were cast early in person.

Democrats have cast 1,600 more in-person votes than Republicans.

“Voter participation in the Aug. 2 primary is gaining in momentum, but we need to continue to encourage Ohioans to get to the polls” Secretary of State Frank LaRose said. “The votes Ohioans cast in this primary will shape the future of our state and our communities, and Aug. 2 is our opportunity to chart the future of our great state.”

The total number of absentee ballots requested for Aug. 2 were 72,970, with 29,702 returned thus far. At this time in April, more than 123,000 were requested and more than 45,000 had been returned.

Democrats have requested nearly 20,000 more absentee ballots and returned over 5,000 more than Republicans for the August primary.

LaRose has also said the second primary will cost Ohio taxpayers $20 million, and inability to develop federal and state legislative maps cost taxpayers an extra $9 million for the May 3 primary.

The delay in both congressional and state legislative maps — caused by late U.S. Census data and struggles by the Ohio Redistricting Commission to develop maps that would pass Supreme

Court challenges — forced LaRose to ask the General Assembly for an additional $9 million to cover costs associated with the May 3 primary.

That money was sent to local boards of election to cover additional overtime and temporary labor costs, as well as more costs for database reprogramming, election management and ballot production and reprinting.

A second primary became necessary after the

Ohio Supreme Court ruled four sets of state legislative maps developed by the commission were unfairly gerrymandered to favor Republicans, violating a voter-adopted constitutional amendment passed in 2018.

A federal court, however, ordered the state to have a state primary using the commission’s third set of maps, which was submitted twice to the Ohio Supreme Court and rejected both times.