What is bringing out early voters?; 1 day left to vote early

Two days before Election Day, just three voters were waiting for polls to open at the Montgomery County Administration building for early in-person voting early Sunday afternoon.

Once polls opened, though, the pace seemed to pick up a bit, with voters starting to stream in to the administration building’s lower level by twos and threes.

Since early in-person balloting started Oct. 11, 2,682 voters have voted at the administration building, said Jan Kelly, director of the county Board of Elections. That’s down a bit from last year, which of course was a bigger general election, she noted.

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So far, the county has mailed out 9,526 absentee ballots to voters who requested them for the 2017 off-year election, Kelly said.

But as of Sunday afternoon, the county has gotten back only 6,830 of those absentee ballots. And to be counted, absentee ballots are due to be postmarked by Monday, the day before Election Day. She urged voters to mail those in. (The deadline to request an absentee ballot was noon Saturday.)

The county administration building is at 451 W. Third St., Dayton. Early in-person voting will continue until 5 p.m. today, then 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday.

Election Day voting happens only at precinct locations, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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Deborah Kirkland, of Huber Heights, was one of the handful of voters waiting to vote Sunday. She said she was concerned primarily about Issue 4, Sinclair Community College’s levy. She was also eyeing Issue 3, a renewal of Montgomery County’s $55 million human services levy.

“Those are the main two,” Kirkland said.

Sinclair is asking Montgomery County voters to continue providing 20 percent of the school’s funding.

If Issue 4 passes, it would not raise taxes. The college has never had a levy fail and hopes voters renew the 10-year, 3.2 mill levy that generates around $28 million annually for the college.

State Issues 1 and 2 are also bringing voters to the polls, even if the numbers are lower than typical general election turnouts, Kelly said.

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Washington Twp. resident Bob Ashburn brought his son Kyle to early in-person balloting Sunday, a few days after he and his wife cast ballots themselves. Such voting is convenient, he said.

“One of the big ones is the Sinclair levy,” Ashburn said. “My son attends Sinclair. Good thing for him, because he’s the student body president.”

State Issue I, also called “Marsy’s Law,” would weave several rights for crime victims into the Ohio Constitution, a step that already has been taken in five states.

State Issue 2, which seems to be getting the most attention of the statewide issues, would require state agencies to not pay more for prescription drugs than the federal Department of Veteran Affairs.

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