Election Day is two weeks away, but hundreds of thousands of Ohioans have already voted early, in-person. Mail-in voting is also on pace for a record, as worries about the pandemic and the efficiency of the postal service have convinced many voters to stand in line outside or use drop boxes at their boards of elections. Here's a look at what's driving the surge.
It took Rick Oprzadek longer to park than it did to vote. Cars flowed steadily in and out of the lot around the in Chardon. While county workers contributed to some of the traffic, lots of vehicles carried voters.
He鈥檇 come to drop off his ballot. He walked to the receptacle, opened the slot, inserted his ballot and that was that. Right behind him, others did the same. Under a tent on the other side of a sidewalk, 20 people waited to go inside the building to vote.
Oprzadek said the was a reason he decided not to wait until Election Day. He felt standing in line to vote then would be risky.
鈥淢y wife and I are both retired. She has a respiratory issue so as much as we can minimize the risk the better. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e doing it early,鈥� he said.
In fact Ohio is seeing record numbers of early voters. More than 1 million have already cast ballots, and roughly 200,000 have already voted early, in person, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said. Worries about the pandemic and the efficiency of the U.S. Postal Service have convinced many voters to stand in line outside in the weeks leading up to Election Day, or to use drop boxes at their boards of elections.
Geauga Board of Elections director Pete Zeigler thought the second week of in-person early voting would slow down from the frenetic pace of the first. But the steady flow of voters proved him wrong.
鈥淲e鈥檙e averaging just over 400 voters a day for early voting so far. The first day we were actually below 400, so we鈥檙e picking up if anything,鈥� he said.
The scene at Geauga was similar to the one later last week in nearby Cuyahoga. About 75 people were waiting to vote in person right around lunch time. Cuyahoga County Board of Elections spokesman Mike West said voters seemed to be coming earlier rather than later.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a larger number of voters come in the morning. In the afternoons, it鈥檚 generally fewer people coming to vote," West said. "But we are in uncharted waters here, so we don鈥檛 know what to expect. In the past, we would see this week slow down for the sheer numbers of people.鈥�
Ohio seems to have avoided hours-long waits found in and . But early voting hasn鈥檛 been free from stumbles. Summit County鈥檚 problems with delays in mailing ballots to voters led the board of elections to drop its contract with Midwest Direct, the company hired to mail them. About a dozen other .
Secretary of State LaRose has been sued in state and federal courts for limiting the drop boxes for returning ballots to just one location per county. Voting rights groups said the limit could disenfranchise minority voters. But a federal appeals court has, for now, blocked counties from offering more than one location, leading to traffic tie-ups in some counties.
In Geauga, Oprzadek said multiple drop boxes would have been more convenient for local voters.
鈥淕eauga County is a large county (geographically), and there should be several more options for people who may not be able to travel such a long distance to come right here,鈥� he said.
But for voters who did opt for the trip for in-person early voting, Geauga and many other county elections boards started safety preparations before the first ballot was cast Oct. 6. That included socially distanced waiting lines, single-use pens and separate routes for entering and exiting. Cuyahoga County also has a one-way voting process and other precautions, West said.
鈥淲e have to have people read the health screening questions. If they say no to all of the questions, then we check their temperature, and they鈥檙e issued an armband to know they鈥檝e been health screened," he said.
"Then they stand in line, and as check-in stations become available, voters are directed to a station where they show their ID and sign the poll book and are issued a ballot. Then they go to one of the booths, vote their ballot, put it in a scanner, get their 鈥業 voted sticker鈥� and then they鈥檙e all done,鈥� West continued.
Concerns about COVID convinced Brian and Margaret Gardner to vote early in Cuyahoga County. But they worried whether their ballots would count if they mailed them and about disruptions on Election Day. So they decided to stand in line outside the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
鈥淟ooking at Ohio and Cuyahoga County鈥檚 COVID numbers and seeing a gradual rise in them, I鈥檓 very concerned about where things could be come Election Day. So now feels like a safe window. And this election is very important to us,鈥� Brian Gardner said. 鈥淭here could be another shutdown if cases get extreme. What happens if there鈥檚 a legitimate public health reason to not have the election held?鈥�
In-person early voting ends at 2 p.m. Nov. 2, the day before Election Day. Although there will be no in-person voting at boards of elections Nov. 3, ballots can be dropped off at drop boxes until 7:30 p.m.
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