Voters turn up to cast ballots early

“I could not be more pleased in terms of the process,” said Steve Harsman, deputy director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections. “The turnout is higher than typical for a first day, but I think with the campers out on the lawn and the controversy with the early voting hours, I think they tried to make a statement.”

As of Friday nearly 12 percent of Ohio’s 7.9 million registered voters had requested absentee ballots, which are mailed to voters by local boards of elections in response to the applications.

The number of people who choose to vote absentee by mail or in person is likely to increase this year after an unprecedented statewide campaign that includes ballot applications mailed to every home and television and radio advertising by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.

“From a social marketing perspective we would expect the more times the message, ‘Send in your absentee ballots,’ gets repeated the more people will be likely to do that because it gets drummed into their heads,” said Benjamin Bates, associate professor of communication studies at Ohio University.

“They’re emphasizing the convenience and ease of being able to vote from home,” Bates said. “You can vote in your pajamas.”

Statewide numbers are not available for absentee ballot applications in the last presidential election, but in that 2008 election 30 percent of nearly 5.8 million ballots cast were absentee.

The largest number of requests for absentee ballots for this year’s General Election came from Cuyahoga County, where nearly 20 percent of the 914,419 registered voters asked for ballots, according to state data. Cuyahoga — home to Cleveland — is the largest county in the state.

There is no noticeable trend among counties, with tiny Belmont County ranking second followed by large-sized Franklin County (Columbus) and mid-sized Lake County. Montgomery County had the lowest rate of requests among all the urban counties, ranking 54th of 88 counties, with 7.9 percent of 380,145 registered voters requesting ballots.

In the nine-county Dayton region Warren County had the highest percentage - 10.8 percent requesting ballots - and Preble County had the lowest at 5.7 percent.

Husted spokesman Matthew McClellan said the state spent $1.6 million in federal funds for two mailings of applications and notices to people who are registered but moved. Another $75,000 was paid to the Ohio Association of Broadcasters to get Husted’s absentee voting public service ad placed on local television and radio stations in Ohio. The ad is not running on national cable networks.

“This is the first time that there’s been a statewide effort to send absentee ballots,” McClellan said. “We really do think this was a good investment and a good use of funds.”

Christine Merritt, president of the broadcasters group, said radio and television stations voluntarily run the ads for free, fitting them in where they can. In exchange, the association uses the money to provide services such as training to the 300 radio stations and 40 TV stations that are its members, Merritt said. The campaign will run through Election Day, when Husted’s office will get an accounting of where and when the ad ran, McClellan said.

“Our goal is to deliver $3 (in ad spots) for every $1 invested,” Merritt said. “I think we’ve got good participation statewide.”

Absentee voting rules were liberalized in 2005 when voters no longer had to state a reason for needing to vote absentee. Since than voting by mail or in person before Election Day has proven increasingly popular. Urban counties, including Cuyahoga and Montgomery, had typically mailed absentee ballot applications to voters as a way to reduce the wait at the polls on Election Day in the wake of the 2004 presidential election when longs lines and other problems received negative national attention.

Husted’s decision to mail the absentee ballot applications stemmed from a 2011 dispute with Cuyahoga County, when he ruled in a directive that counties could not send out unsolicited applications because it was unfair to voters in counties that didn’t send them. Election officials in Cuyahoga and Montgomery County said the mailings were a service to voters. Husted reached an agreement with the county boards that he would, for the 2012 election only, send applications statewide, a stance he has not altered.

Susan Hesselgesser, executive director of the League of Women Voters of the Greater Dayton Area, said the applications should be mailed to all registered voters every year.

“We believe that anything that makes voting easier and more accessible for voters is a good thing,” she said.

Voters who chose to skip the mail and vote in person came out across the region, although area boards of elections had very different experiences.

Montgomery County had 695 voters while Champaign County had just 88. In Butler County 540 voters cast ballots. Clark County, which has been a battleground for Republicans and Democrats, had a higher first-day voter turnout - 380 - than larger counties like Warren and Greene, which had 282 and 354 respectively.

“I was just surprised; we didn’t have this (turnout) in 2008 that I recall,” said BOE Deputy Director Sally Pickarski. “It’s been fairly steady all day.”

In Dayton, a group of about 20 Obama supporters camped outside the Board of Elections overnight in tents.

About 15 BOE staffers waited at computer terminals to check in early voters, and more than 100 people voted there in the first hour, including Voters No. 1 and No. 2 – former Montgomery County Board of Elections members Tom Ritchie Sr. and Dennis Lieberman, who were ousted by Husted in a dispute over early voting hours.

On the other hand, in Troy, a slow trickle of voters wandered in a side door of the county courthouse, where a single table in a hallway held absentee ballot applications. Miami County BOE Director Steve Quillen helped many voters himself.

Local election officials reported few problems.

“There was an awful lot to vote on, and you need to find out who your representatives are and get educated before you go into the polls,” said Ralph Iman of Trotwood.

Many early voters on Tuesday were people who said they vote early because it is convenient.

“I’m self-employed and I have a couple of businesses, so for me, this is very handy,” said Mary Ann Weber of Miami County. “I’m busy and this works for me.”