This year, more Republicans sought an absentee ballot or voted early than compared to Democrats.
“Republican voters have been casting their early votes at a far faster rate than four years ago, while Democrats have been significantly behind that pace,” said LaRose. “With that shift in favor of Republicans, overall early voting in this primary election has now surpassed the most comparable primary election in 2018. Political prognosticators are welcome to theorize its significance, but it’s clear Ohio voters have faith in our secure, accurate and accessible election system.”
Of the ballots requested this year, 158,813 were Republican, 138,066 were Democratic and 4,958 were non-partisan. Republicans led the way in early voting with 79,466 ballots cast, with 56,415 Democratic ballots and 1,847 non-partisan ballots cast.
Ohio had nearly 200 hours of early voting this election cycle. The state is one of 18 allowing early voting on a Saturday and one of six that allows early voting on a Sunday, according to LaRose.
The polls opened at 6:30 a.m. today and will close at 7:30 p.m. for Election Day. Today’s primary election includes the governor, attorney general, auditor of state, secretary of state, treasurer of state, Ohio Supreme Court, U.S. Senate, U.S. representative to Congress as well as additional races.
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