Hamilton County Board of Elections (BOE) told CityBeat in August that it’s approaching the November 2023 election like an even-numbered year when voter turnout is the highest. The latest early voting numbers are proving why.
So far, 7,898 people have cast an early in-person vote in Hamilton County, and 12,986 mail-in votes have been returned and counted, according to BOE.
During the last odd-numbered election in 2021, only 1,793 early in-person votes and 4,265 mail-in ballots had been cast in the same time frame.
Early voting numbers tend to skew blue, but independent voters still make up the majority of votes cast for both in-person and absentee voting.
It wasn’t like the 2021 race was a total snooze fest (there was the Aftab Pureval vs. David Mann mayoral race), but the 2023 election cycle has one deeply contentious heavy-hitter issue after another:
- Issue 1: the amendment relating to abortion that would protect individual reproductive health care decisions.
- Issue 2: the law change to legalize and regulate Ohio’s recreational marijuana industry
- Issue 22: the proposed sale of the city-owned Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern.
- Issue 24: an amendment to Cincinnati’s charter to fund affordable housing by increasing the city income and withholding tax.
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Where to vote, what to bring
If you live in Hamilton County, there’s a slight chance your polling location has moved since the last time you voted. These are the polling locations that have recently moved:
- Cincinnati 12E at the Corryville Library has moved to the Corryville Recreation Center at 2823 Eden Avenue.
- Cincinnati 8C at Playhouse in the Park has moved to the Cincinnati Park Board at 950 Eden Park Drive.
- Indian Hill A and B have moved from the Indian Hill Church to the Madeira-Indian Hill Fire Department at 6475 Drake Road.
- Springfield Township G and Z have moved from the Springfield Township Arts Connect Center to the Northminster Presbyterian Church at 703 Compton Road.
A controversial new law requires voters to present a valid ID to vote in person in Hamilton County. Acceptable forms of ID include:
- Ohio driver’s license
- State of Ohio ID card
- Interim ID form issued by the Ohio BMV
- U.S. passport or passport card
- U.S. military ID card
- Ohio National Guard ID card
- US Department of Veterans Affairs ID card
All photo IDs must have the following:
- An expiration date that has not passed
- A photograph of the voter
- The voter’s name, which must substantially conform to the voter’s name as it appears in the poll list or in the poll book.
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This article appears in Oct 18-31, 2023.