LANCASTER, Ohio — Fairfield County voters are keeping a steady pace at the ballot box in the final days before the Nov. 3 general election, with the county board of elections reporting between 600 and 1,000 early voters a day at its Liberty Center office in Lancaster since early voting opened Oct. 6.
Election director Jane Hanley told the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette that about 10,000 people had voted in person at the board’s office at 951 Liberty Drive as of Oct. 26, and the board had mailed out about 10,000 absentee ballots. About 3,500 of those mail ballots were still outstanding earlier this week, and they must be returned by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
“It’s been pretty steady everyday since Oct. 6 when early voting opened,” Hanley told the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. She told the newspaper the early-voting total is trending a bit above the county’s pace in 2022, the last gubernatorial election year.
Hanley told the Eagle-Gazette she believes the turnout reflects an engaged electorate in a year when Ohio voters are choosing the state’s next governor and deciding a slate of statewide offices, legislative races and local issues. Fairfield County ballots also carry municipal, library and school questions, including school funding requests detailed in Fairfield County ballot previews published by The Columbus Dispatch.
The county has about 111,000 registered voters, according to figures Hanley gave the Eagle-Gazette. She told the newspaper that gubernatorial elections typically draw about 30% to 35% turnout in the county, compared with about 70% in presidential years — and that she hopes this year’s engagement pushes the midterm figure higher.
Voters who received a mail-in ballot but prefer to vote in person can still do so, but Hanley told the Eagle-Gazette they will be required to cast a provisional ballot, because the board has already issued them a paper ballot. That safeguard, she explained to the newspaper, ensures one vote per person while the returned mail ballots are reconciled.
Early in-person voting in Fairfield County ends Sunday, Nov. 1, when the board of elections will be open from 1 to 5 p.m., according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s statewide early-voting schedule. There is no early voting on Monday, Nov. 2. Polls across the county will then open on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and voters still in line at closing time will be permitted to vote.
Residents who still hold a mail ballot can return it in person to the board office at 951 Liberty Drive in Lancaster by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3. After the polls close Tuesday night, the board will begin reporting unofficial results, with official certification to follow later in November.
Photo: Tim Kiser, CC BY-SA