COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Nearly 2.2 million Ohioans have already voted early, but that means another 840,000 absentee ballots requested by voters still have not yet been returned, according to numbers announced Tuesday by Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
With a week until the Nov. 3 election, Ohio is smashing its early-voting records, with more voters turning to the option in light of concerns about the coronavirus and the capacity of the U.S. Postal Service. As of Tuesday, 3.2 million Ohioans had requested to vote early, compared to 1.6 million for the November 2016 election, LaRose said.
About 750,000 Ohioans have voted early in person, while 1.5 million have returned their mail ballot, LaRose said. More than 8 million people are registered to vote in Ohio. The numbers are as of last Friday, when county boards of election reported them to the state, but LaRose, a Republican announced them Tuesday.
More up-to-date information for the entire state is not readily available -- most of Ohio’s 88 counties report absentee numbers online, but not all of them do, and that reporting isn’t uniform. But for example, Cuyahoga County reported 81,796 new mail ballots arrived Saturday and Sunday. Cuyahoga County elections officials said this week they’re optimistic that 90% of the county’s 337,395 ballots will be returned, a similar percentage to previous years.
“By all accounts, this has been a very successful early-voting period,” LaRose said.
But LaRose also reiterated that Nov. 3 could pass without a conclusive result in Ohio. That’s directly tied to the number of outstanding absentee ballots, a number LaRose reiterated he plans to report on election night.
Under state law, ballots will still counted if they arrive before Nov. 13, as long as they’re postmarked by Nov. 2. So if a candidate’s election night lead is smaller than the number of outstanding ballots, that means the results of the race conceivably could hinge on late-arriving ballots. For context, President Donald Trump won Ohio in 2016 by 446,841 votes, which translated to an 8-point victory.
“When we have that unofficial result on election night, it’s that official one that really counts a few weeks later,” LaRose said.
Tuesday also was the recommended deadline for voters who want an absentee ballot mailed to them to do so. The legal deadline is Saturday, but LaRose said waiting until then would be a “bad idea,” given mail transit times. As a reminder, voters who have requested a mail ballot also have the option of voting early in person instead if they’re tired of waiting for it to arrive.
Early, in-person voting is available at county boards of elections offices around the state. In-person voting is available from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday. LaRose dismissed reports of huge lines in Cleveland and other urban areas last weekend as a byproduct of social distancing regulations. Democrats shared photos on social media of a line of voters stretching to the Interstate 90 off ramp in Cleveland, calling it an example of voter suppression.
“It may look like a longer line than it actually is, but those lines move quickly, and that’s a sign of enthusiasm,” he said.
For more information on early voting, visit www.voteohio.gov.
LaRose shared the rundown on early voting while appearing on Gov. Mike DeWine’s televised Tuesday coronavirus briefing. He also went over elections basics, as well as to tout the safety measures elections officials have imposed to try to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading to Ohioans at the polls.
LaRose also:
- Sought to reassure voters that the Nov. 3 election will proceed as planned, and that safety protocols will be similar to those followed at grocery stores.
“The bottom line is this. There have been some folks wondering will Election Day happen as scheduled? It of course will. Election Day is unchangeable” under state and federal law, he said.
- Encouraged Ohioans to report any elections misinformation they see to [email protected], an email address he said is monitored 24 hours a day. LaRose touted a Tuesday indictment in Cuyahoga County against two men prosecutors said tried to scare voters in urban areas with large minority populations through a series of robocalls.
LaRose said his office had gotten a tip about the calls, which shared false information about voting by mail.
“Our office played a role in helping to make sure that these people face justice. They were trying to confuse and intimidate voters. We won’t tolerate it," he said.
Here’s a video of LaRose’s comments: