Tuesday, 11 October 2016 17:44

Early Voting Starts, Absentee Requests Up

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Early voting starts Wednesday in Ohio, as voter registration ended on Tuesday.

And with less than a month left before the Presidential election, absentee ballot requests are growing in Ohio.

As of last Friday, more than one million absentee ballot applications had been received by county boards of elections statewide.

The Secretary of State's office says that includes 17,300 requests from military and overseas voters whose absentee ballots started going out on Saturday, September 24th.

Nearly 7.8 million Ohioans are registered to vote.

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(Ohio Secretary of State, news release) Just 28 days ahead of the 2016 Presidential General Election, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted today announced that as of Friday, October 7, 2016, an estimated 1,091,188 absentee ballot applications had been received by county boards of elections statewide. This includes 17,300 requests from military and overseas voters whose absentee ballots started going out on Saturday, September 24th. Of those military and overseas ballots, 1,445 have already been returned. Ballots for all other voters will be mailed out starting tomorrow, October 12th.

2016 Presidential Election By-the-Numbers

Nearly 7.8 million Ohioans are registered to vote.
1,091,188 absentee ballot applications have been received as of Friday.
17,300 military & overseas absentee ballots have been requested as of Friday.
1,445 Ohioans have already cast their ballot.
Absentee ballot applications must be received by boards of elections by noon on Saturday, November 5, 2016, but voters are encouraged to submit their request as soon as possible to ensure sufficient time to complete and return their ballot to the board of elections.

Completed absentee ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election and arrive at the board of elections by the 10th day after Election Day in order to be counted. Ohio is one of only 12 states to allow late-arriving ballots to be counted.

If you have not mailed your ballot prior to election week, the Secretary of State's Office recommends voters take their completed ballot to the post office and request it receive a postage cancellation mark, or return it personally to their county board of elections prior to the close of the polls on Election Day at 7:30pm.

To encourage participation in absentee voting by mail Secretary Husted recently mailed applications to voters. Additional information about the statewide mailing is available here. Voters who want to vote by mail may also download an absentee ballot request form at www.MyOhioVote.com.

At this same point in time ahead of the 2012 Presidential General Election, approximately 1,120,682 absentee ballots had been requested (see October 9, 2012 release). That year marked the first-ever statewide mailing of absentee ballot applications and voters who took advantage of this option represented a third of all ballots cast in that election – a record 1.87 million absentee ballots were cast by mail and in person.

(Ohio Secretary of State, news release) Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted today reminded voters that absentee voting for the November 8th Presidential Election begins tomorrow, Wednesday, October 12, 2016 for all registered Ohio voters, both in-person and by mail-in ballot. Important dates to remember for this election are outlined below.

Eligible voters must register by today in order to cast a ballot in the General Election.

1,804 local issues, including levies for police and fire services as well as school funding, will appear on ballots across Ohio.

Read 2014 times Last modified on Tuesday, 11 October 2016 17:46