Plenty of Ohioans have already taken advantage of the state's early voting, Secretary of State Jon Husted says more than 1.2 million already cast their ballots -- with a huge percentage of the 1.3 million requesting absentee ballots by mail already returning them, nearly 72 percent.
The vote totals to date of those voting in-person at local Boards of Election: over 306-thousand. Court challenges aside mail ballots need to be postmarked no later than November 5th; in person voting moves ahead both Saturday and Sunday and through two o'clock Monday afternoon, the day before Election Day.
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(Secretary of State Jon Husted) With one week to go before Election Day, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted today released the latest absentee voting data for Ohio based upon an informal survey of Ohio’s 88 boards of elections.
As of Friday, October 26th, more than 1.2 million Ohioans had already cast their ballots. Of the 1.3 million absentee ballots that have been mailed to voters during the absentee voting period, more than 950,000 have already been returned or 71.9 percent. In addition, more than 306,000 voters had voted in person at their board of elections or designated vote center.
“The voting process in Ohio continues to go smoothly,” Secretary Husted said. “As we near Election Day, the pace of early voting is picking up.”
Secretary Husted is encouraging all voters who have requested and received absentee ballots to get them returned over the next week. Absentee ballots returned by mail must be postmarked by November 5, 2012 and received no later than November 16, 2012, though voters may also return their ballots in person to their board of elections up until the close of polls on Election Day. It is important to note that if a voter has requested an absentee ballot and decides instead to vote in person, they will be required to vote provisionally.
There is still plenty of time to vote early. Boards of elections are open for voting during the following hours:
Tuesday, October 30 - Thursday, November 1: 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Friday, November 2: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 3: 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 4: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday, November 5: 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
