“We think we’ll have a good day at the polls with so many having already turned out,” she said.
Lawrence Whatley, 67, of Kettering, was one of thousands who waited in the cold Montgomery County Administrative Building parking garage Monday to vote. He said he hadn’t expected a line in the hundreds and a wait time of over 40 minutes.
“I walked in the front door and (was told to go to the back of the line) and I walked back and I kept walking and I kept walking,” he said. “If I want to get my vote in, I don’t have no choice in the matter; I’m going to wait.”
Whatley said he voted a day early because he is working on Election Day, but he was off Monday. Scheduling conflicts was the most common answer given by voters standing in line for why they were voting early.
Others, like Deanna Perumalla, 25, of Dayton, said they’re predicting lines will be even worse Tuesday.
“Tomorrow is going to be crazy,” she said. “No, (I wasn’t expecting this kind of line today) but it’s still going to be better versus tomorrow.”
In Greene County on Monday, voters waited for three hours on average. At 4 p.m., the board of elections was still processing voters who were in line at 2 p.m. A board employee said a total of about 40,000 people, or about 35% of the county’s registered voters, had voted early in-person or by mail as of Monday.
Miami and Warren Counties had shorter wait times. A Miami County Board of Elections employee said she heard the longest wait on Monday was 40 minutes. The employee said a total of about 36,000 people, or about 47% of the county’s registered voters, already had voted as of Monday.
In Warren County, about 92,000, or about 55% of the county’s registered voters, cast ballots early this election, according to Board of Elections Director Brian Sleeth. He said he expects voter turnout to be north of 80% this election.
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