“I attribute this to the scare of COVID being over, and people want to get out and cast their vote in person,” said Alisha Beeler, director of the Greene County Board of Elections. “I expect that the amount of absentee requests will continue to climb as well as the amount of people coming in to early vote.”
Early voting in Ohio began on Oct. 8. According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s new statewide database for early voting, nearly 1 million Ohioans have already cast their ballot.
A total of 32,650 ballots were received by the Montgomery County Board of Elections as of Wednesday. This figure includes in-person voters (18,316) and mailed ballots (14,335).
“We are mirroring or exceeding the in-person early voting numbers from 2020, setting individual day records the last two days, and the absentee by mail numbers are more like the 2016 presidential year,” said Montgomery County Board of Elections Director Jeff Rezabek.
For Greene County, 15,170 ballots have been requested, and 6,588 of these were returned as of Wednesday. The office has also seen nearly 13,000 in-person voters as of Wednesday, according to state data.
Beeler said the total number of early in-person voters during the previous presidential election in 2020 was 14,135.
Warren County Board of Elections Director Brian Sleeth said on Wednesday that in-person voting is up 130% compared to 2020. Warren County has seen 26,234 absentee ballots requested and 15,067 returned as of Wednesday. Another 18,606 voters have cast a ballot early, according to state data.
Sleeth said his office is seeing 1,800 to 2,200 voters per day.
Miami County Board of Elections Director Laura Bruns said her office, on a rolling daily basis, has seen a 10% increase in early voters compared to 2020 figures.
The state reports that 9,609 voters have cast in-person ballots, while another 8,353 have requested absentee ballots. Only 1,565 have been returned as of Wednesday, according to state data.
Miami County delays
Bruns said some Miami County voters who applied to vote by mail may have experienced delays in receiving their ballots due to issues with the election board’s printing vendor and a post office holiday.
The election board is also working with the New Carlisle post office to address ballots not sent out to some Miami County voters living in the city.
Bruns said most Miami County voters received their ballots last Thursday and Friday, where the election board’s print vendor sent out 7,957 ballots. Columbus Day, recognized on Oct. 14, also saw the closure of offices like the postal service.
Bruns’ office took over sending ballots in-house on Oct. 14 and workers have sent out ballots daily.
Voters who have not received their absentee ballot after requesting one should call the Miami County Board of Elections office at 937-440-3900 for next steps. Voters may be reissued a ballot.
Bruns reminded voters that people who do not receive their mailed ballots are eligible to vote a regular ballot at the election board’s early voting center, located at 215 W. Main St. in Troy.
County election boards are seeking poll workers ahead of Election Day. Anyone interested in serving as a poll worker can contact their county’s election board.
Ohio early voters have until the Sunday before Election Day to vote in-person. Polling locations will open across the state at 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 5 and stay open until 7:30 p.m.
In-person early voting in Ohio:
Early voting hours in the Nov. 5 general election are the following:
Oct. 24-25: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Oct. 26: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Oct. 27: 1-5 p.m.
Oct. 28: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 29: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Oct. 30 to Nov. 1: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 2: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Nov. 3: 1-5 p.m.
