LaRose Announces First Early Voting Numbers of the August 2 Primary

LaRose Announces First Early Voting Numbers of the August 2 Primary

COLUMBUS, Ohio – With less than three weeks to go before Ohio’s August 2, 2022 Primary/Special Election, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced that 44,407 absentee ballots have been requested by-mail or in-person for the state legislative and executive committee races and that 6,239 votes have been cast statewide in those same races.

Data were collected by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office via an informal survey of Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections. The information below includes data reported by the county boards from the start of early voting on Wednesday, July 6 through the end of early voting hours on Friday, July 8. According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office Democrats have requested 28,178 absentee ballots while Republicans have requested 16,229. Early in person numbers for the state are 3,154 for Democrats and 2,569 for Republicans. The total ballots that have been returned and submitted for counting are 3,444 for Democrats and 2,795 for Republicans.

As of July 12, no requests have been made for absentee ballots in Meigs County according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Meigs County has very little on the August 2 ballot. The only contested candidates on the ballot for Meigs County are for the Republican State Central Committee 30th District. There are two candidates for the male seat, Jim Carnes and Shannon L. Walker. There are two candidates for the female seat, Nicole Hunter and LeeAnn Johnson.

“Despite the August 2nd primary not including any marquee statewide races, we’re seeing stronger turnout than expected across Ohio,” said LaRose. “Every election is important, and that is why it’s all the more imperative that we encourage our friends, neighbors, and colleagues to participate in these decisions that will significantly shape our state’s future.”

Ohio voters will find the following races on their August 2 primary ballot:

• Ohio House of Representatives
• Ohio Senate
• Democrat/Republican State Central Committee
• Local issues and measures impacting their communities

Voters can check early voting days and hours.

This election season, Ohio voters will enjoy nearly 200 hours of early voting in the time leading up to the August 2 primary. Ohio is one of 18 states that allows voting on a Saturday and one of just six states that allows early voting on a Sunday. Ohio’s early voting period is 21% longer than the national average.

Voters may also choose to vote by mail. Learn how to request your absentee ballot at VoteOhio.gov.

Of the 42 states that run a traditional absentee voting system, a comprehensive review by the Brookings Institute determined no state does it better than Ohio. SOURCE: www.brookings.edu/research/voting-by-mail-in-a-pandemic-a-state-by-state-scorecard/(opens in a new window).

Absentee voting in Ohio is time-tested and has strong security checks in place.

Ohioans have utilized absentee voting for two decades, and that has allowed Ohio to put in place the safeguards necessary to make absentee voting secure against fraud.

• Voter identification and signature are checked TWICE during the process
• Voter list maintenance allows for accurate voter rolls
• Ballot harvesting is against the law in Ohio
• Voters are able to track their ballot on VoteOhio.gov/Track.

These requirements and processes, as well as strict laws against voter fraud, have made absentee voting secure in Ohio and instances of voter fraud exceedingly rare. Learn more about how Ohio keeps our elections secure by visiting ElectionSecurity.Ohio.gov.

Voters should consider these best practices when they choose the absentee ballot option:

• Fill in the information properly. Review the form to ensure you have filled it out properly, including writing your date of birth where required, not the day’s date, as well as signing your request form.
  
• Include your e-mail and/or phone number. County boards of elections will be calling or e-mailing voters who may need to remedy information on their ballot request form or absentee ballot envelope. Including your information will ensure you can be reached if your ballot request doesn’t have everything filled out properly.
  
• Don’t wait. To accommodate necessary processing time at the county board of elections and the time required for the United States Postal Service to deliver elections mail, voters should not procrastinate – fill out and mail your absentee ballot request as soon as possible.
  
• Double check your return envelope. Before you submit your ballot request form, make sure the envelope is addressed to your county board of elections.
  
• Track your ballot. Once their ballot request is received by their county board of elections, voters may track their ballot at VoteOhio.gov/Track. As long as your ballot is postmarked by the day before the election and received within 10 days (or 20 days for UOCAVA voters) after the election at your county board of elections, your vote will be tabulated.