The Ohio Secretary of State’s office has released data for the first week and a half of early voting for the state’s March 19 Primary Election.
Early voting began on February 21 and runs through March 17.
A total of 243,647 absentee ballots were requested and 131,613 votes were cast from the first day of early voting through Monday, March 4, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Out of the 342,647 requested absentee ballots, a total of 172,003 ballots were requested by mail and 71,644 were requested in person.
A total of 124,970 ballots were requested by Republican voters while 107,789 ballots were requested by Democrats and 10,888 ballots were requested by non-partisan voters.
Out of the 131,613 votes cast through March 4, a total of 71,644 of voters decided to cast their vote in person compared to the 59,969 voters who cast their vote by mail.
A total of 42,875 ballots were cast in person by Republican voters while 27,631 ballots were cast in person by Democrats and 1,138 were cast in person by non-partisan voters.
More Democrats, however, have returned their mail-in ballots for counting as of March 4.
A total of 29,241 Democrat voters have returned their mail-in ballots compared to 28,835 mail-in ballots returned by Republican voters and 1,893 mail-in ballots returned by non-partisan voters.
As of March 4, there were a total of 112,034 outstanding absentee ballots.
There are 8,031,146 individuals registered to vote in Ohio, the secretary of state’s office notes.
In addition to local candidates, Ohio’s March 19 primary ballot will include statewide presidential, U.S. Senate, and Supreme Court candidates.
An Emerson College poll conducted between January 23 and January 25 shows former President Donald Trump with an 11-point lead over incumbent Democrat President Joe Biden in the Buckeye State’s presidential head-t0-head matchup.
Meanwhile, the state’s U.S. Senate primary race between three Republican candidates – businessman Bernie Moreno, State Senator Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls), and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose – is notable as Republicans are hoping to unseat incumbent Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
Another notable race in Ohio is the state’s 13th Congressional District, where Republicans are also looking to flip the seat currently represented by Democrat U.S. Representative Emilia Sykes (D-OH-13).
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Early Voting” by Liz West CC2.0
