Early voting off to strong start in Ohio as primary nears
COLUMBUS – With Ohio’s primary election fast approaching March 19, Ohio Secretary of State Frank Larose reported significant early voting turnout.
According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office in a news release, as of Monday, March 4, there were 243,647 absentee ballots requested across the state, and 131,613 votes already cast.
The data reflects an engaged electorate taking advantage of absentee and early voting opportunities in the state. Of the ballots requested, 172,003 were through mail and 71,644 in person.
Similarly, of the ballots cast, 59,969 were by mail, with a considerable 71,644 voting in person.
The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office also revealed party preferences for the ballots requested with 124,970 by Republicans and 107,789 by Democrats, with 10,888 non-partisan ballots. For ballots cast early in person, 42,875 were
Republican and 27,631 Democrat, alongside 1,138 non-partisan.
In terms of mail ballots returned and submitted for counting, Democrats lead with 29,241, while Republicans follow closely with 28,835, in addition to 1,893 non-partisan ballots.
The office highlighted the total number of registered voters in the state as 8,031,146. They also provided resources for voters, such as tracking absentee ballots at Voteohio.gov/ Tracker and accessing the full early in-person voting schedule at Voteohio. gov.
The Secretary of State’s Office emphasized that on March 19, the polls would be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., allowing Ohioans ample time to participate in the election process.