Early voting numbers are up for this year’s local elections

Ohio voters are casting more ballots early in this year’s local elections than in 2015, according to Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office.

Husted Wednesday reminded voters the Nov. 7 General Election is less than a week away, and the deadline to request an absentee ballot is Saturday, Nov. 4 at noon.

Voters are showing growing interest in voting early, requesting and casting more absentee ballots in this off-year election than the last one in 2015, said Sam Rossi, spokesman for Husted.

“As Ohioans have become familiar with the ease of casting an early ballot, more of them are taking advantage of those opportunities,” Husted said. “We have made a lot of improvements to the voting system in Ohio, and we hope the turnout we are seeing in early voting will continue through election day.”

So far 338,021 absentee ballot requests have been received, an increase of 9,636 from the same time in 2015. Rossi said the 179,747 cast so far is 31,197 more than the same period that year.

The full, detailed and interactive 2017 elections calendar is available here.

Across Ohio's 88 counties, there are 1,517 respective local issues that will appear before voters. Details are available here. Voters will also be deciding a number of local races and can obtain additional information on these contests by contacting their county board of elections.

Absentee Voting by Mail and In-Person

All Ohio voters may request an absentee ballot by Saturday at noon and return it to the appropriate county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 7. Absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 6 will also be counted, but voters who choose to return their absentee ballot close to the deadline should consider delivering it to the board of elections to ensure it is counted.

Hours for early voting at your county board of elections office are:

Today-Nov. 3: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.

Nov. 4: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Nov. 5: 1 p.m.-5 p.m.

Nov. 6: 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Military & Overseas Voting

Early voting for military and overseas voters is already underway. Military voters who have not yet submitted a request for absentee ballots in 2017 may still do so by visiting OhioMilitaryVotes.com. Overseas voters can visit OhioVoterPassport.com. There they can download the Federal Post Card Application, request an absentee ballot, read through frequently asked questions, track the status of their ballot and sign up for election reminders via email and social media.


Absentee voting in area counties

County Ballots requested …. Ballots returned

Butler 6,829 …. 4,217

Champaign 973 …. 710

Clark 3,032 ….. 2,013

Darke 1,017 ….. 647

Greene 3,808 ….. 2,355

Miami 2,663…… 1,624

Montgomery 10,984 ….. 4,833

Preble 905….. 599

Warren 6,727 ….. 4,354

Source: Ohio Secretary of State

YOUR ELECTION SOURCE

Voters guide: Find out what is on your ballot in our interactive voters guide at vote.daytondailynews.com

Live election results: Look for up-to-the minute election results on our website starting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

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Special epaper for subscribers: Look for election coverage Wednesday morning in your electronic edition of the newspaper, along with the latest results at daytondailynews.com/epaper

Thursday newspaper: Get in-depth analysis on the key races and issues, what voters decided and how it will impact you and your wallet.

WHIO TV Channel 7: Watch a special edition of WHIO Reports Sunday morning at 11:30 highlighting what's on the ballot Tuesday.

Special WHIO Radio program: Listen to AM 1290 and News 95.7 WHIO Tuesday night starting at 8 for a live, 3-hour election special with reports from Dayton, Springfield, Columbus and around the region.

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