Secretary of State Frank LaRose said this week that Ohioans have already cast more ballots in this year's presidential election than they did in 2016 — twice as many, in fact.
"Ohioans continue to vote early in record numbers — with 1.1 million Ohioans already casting their ballot for the 2020 general election. That’s 119% the rate seen in 2016. Nearly triple the number of Ohioans are voting early in-person compared to the same time in 2016," says a release from LaRose.
Per the SOS, as of Oct. 20, 675,231 absentee ballots had been returned to county boards of election compared to 344,314 ballots in 2016. This year, more than 1 out of 3 registered Ohio voters requested an absentee ballot for a total of 2,745,403 requests (compared to 1,412,718 in 2016). Those absentee ballot requests include not just those who may be avoiding the physical polls due to COVID, but also overseas and military voters.
"Inspiring. There’s no other word for it,” said LaRose in the release. “With two weeks until election day, our record-breaking turnout is sending a message — it’s easy to vote in Ohio.”
Early in-person voting is still open in Ohio through Nov. 2. You can find the times and your early voting location (at your county board of elections) at ohiosos.gov.
Remember that absentee ballots must be dropped off at your board of elections dropbox by 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3, or postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by Friday, Nov. 13. (If you are mailing in a two-page ballot, you'll need to use TWO stamps.)
Track you ballot at ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/toolkit/ballot-tracking.
General Election polls are open 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. Find your polling location here: ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/toolkit/polling-location.
And, remember, if you have requested an absentee ballot and decide instead to vote at the polls, you must let the poll workers know and ask for a provisional ballot.
