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Democrats Outpacing Republicans In Casting Early Ballots

Franklin County Board of Elections prepares voting machines for Election Day.
Andy Chow
Franklin County Board of Elections prepares voting machines for Election Day.

With less than a week away from Election Day, Ohio voters are on pace for a bigger turnout than the May primary in 2014. 

More than 128,000 people have cast ballots already, and Secretary of State Jon Husted says there are still more than 90,000 absentee ballots that were requested but have yet to be sent back. This outpaces the 2014 primary, when there had been nearly 183,000 ballots requested – but there were no major statewide races in that primary.        

While turnout is projected to be lower than 2016’s presidential primary, there are still several big races to be decided, including Issue 1’s Congressional redistricting reform measure and the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial primaries.

Of the two major parties getting out the vote, the Democrats lead with more than 115,000 ballots requested compared to more than 91,000 Republican ballots. The return rate for both parties is around 58 percent.

Copyright 2018 The Statehouse News Bureau

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.