With just five weeks until Election Day, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced 2,000,489 absentee ballot applications have been received by county boards of elections statewide. This includes 24,222 requests from military and overseas voters whose absentee ballots began to be mailed two weeks ago. All other absentee ballots will be mailed beginning October 6th. Over the past week, 216,485 new absentee ballot requests were submitted by Ohio voters.
At the same time during the 2016 election, 957,260 absentee ballots had been requested. All data is current as of September 25th.
The Delaware County Board of Elections has received 42,287 regular absentee ballot applications, as well as 402 Uniformed and Overseas absentee ballot applications to date.
This week, Secretary LaRose issued a directive that provides clarity to Ohio voters who may have requested an absentee ballot, but may still be considering voting in person. The directive, which mirrors Ohio law, states that voters who have requested an absentee ballot but choose to vote on election day must vote by provisional ballot. However, those Ohioans who have requested an absentee ballot but choose to vote early in-person will not be required to vote by provisional ballot solely based on the fact that they requested an absentee ballot.
”We are making it easier than ever for registered Ohio voters to make their voice heard,” said LaRose. “Every voter choosing to cast their ballot from the comfort of their own home makes for an even smoother voting experience for those choosing to vote in-person on election day. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
The deadline to register to vote or update your voter registration information is October 5th, 2020. Early voting begins on October 6th, 2020.
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/
