EATON — Over 1.4 million absentee ballot applications were turned in across the state, and many area voters are using this method to cast their votes for the highly anticipated Nov. 8 general election.
Early voting is also under way, and many are showing up at local boards of elections to get complete their civic duty.
Just 15 days ahead of the 2016 Presidential General Election, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted on Tuesday, Oct. 25, announced that as of Friday, Oct. 21, an estimated 1,412,718 absentee ballots had been requested statewide.
This includes 21,312 requests from military and overseas voters. Voting for military and overseas personnel began on Sept. 24, and all absentee voting began on Oct. 12, the day after the close of registration.
In Preble County, 3,065 absentee ballots had been requested. As of last Friday, 1,387 had been returned.
In Butler County, over 36,900 ballots had been requested, and 18,494 had been returned.
Absentee ballot applications must be received by boards of elections by noon on Saturday, Nov. 5, but voters are encouraged to submit their request as soon as possible to ensure sufficient time to complete and return their ballot to the board of elections.
Statewide:
• 7,784,128 Ohioans are registered to vote.
• 1,259,403 voters have requested an absentee ballot by mail as of Friday. Of those, 344,315 have been cast.
• 153,315 voters have requested and cast an absentee ballot in-person as of Friday.
• 21,312 military & overseas voters have requested an absentee ballot as of Friday. Of those, 6,066 have been cast.
If being returned by-mail, completed absentee ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election and arrive at the board of elections within 10 days of Election Day in order to be counted. Ohio is only one of 12 states to allow late-arriving ballots to be counted.
