Early voting for Ohio's special election continues for a few more days. Voters are deciding on Issue 1: whether or not to increase the number of votes a state constitutional referendum needs to pass. Hamilton County Elections Director Sherry Poland says as of last week, more than 18,000 people had voted early in person, and another 18,000 requested ballots by mail.
"As far as our early, in-person voting numbers, they're very high, if you were to compare this to, let's say, a general election that occurs in November in an odd year," Poland says. "But if you compare by-mail voting, it's a little down. So this is going to be an interesting one. It's a difficult one to predict."
Poland says Tuesday is the last day to request a ballot to vote by mail. Early in-person voting continues until Sunday.
RELATED: Your voter guide to Ohio's August 8 special election
"I do recall though, several years ago, we had an unusually high number in a small August election where we saw 34% turnout in a particular community," she says. "I don't know that we're going to get that high. We're sort of guessing around 20-30%." As of midday Monday, Hamilton, Butler, Clermont and Warren counties were all reporting between 15% and 18% of registered voters have either voted in person, or asked for a ballot by mail.
Poll workers still needed
Some Ohio counties are still looking for people to work the polls for the special election. Poland says it's not too late to sign on.
"We are finding that the closer we get to Election Day, we are still having people who are interested in working, which is great. So we've added on additional training classes to the end of this week."
Poland says this is a great time for someone to work the election for the first time, because polling places will likely be less busy.
LISTEN: What a supporter and opponent have to say about Issue 1
She says Hamilton County hasn't had to consolidate polling places, but could still use more poll workers. "It’s not a difficult job. We do train you. We also support you on Election Day. We don't leave you out there on your own. We have a dedicated help desk that's staffed with full-time employees. And then we have troubleshooters that are out in the field on Election Day."
Poland says many of their regular poll workers already had plans when the special election was called.
