Early voting has been going for a week, and the number of registered voters is the highest it’s been in a decade. Many voters are opting to vote early through absentee ballot. That includes one major statewide official.
Secretary of State Jon Husted visited the Franklin County Board of Elections to drop off his absentee ballot. He says Ohio takes an all of the above approach to voting, which means in-person on Election Day, in-person at your local board of election, through the mail or by drop-off.
“There’s no reason in Ohio you should ever have to stand in a line, you can get your ballot by mail and just drop it in your own mail box or drop it in at the board of elections,” says Husted.
Husted’s office says 910,982 voters have requested an absentee ballot by mail and 42,470 have already been cast.
That is an increase from four years ago when 722,498 voters requested absentee ballots, with 49,306 cast by mail or in person.
Democrats rallied outside to criticize Husted’s practice of clearing the voter rolls, which was upheld up by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Husted is running for lieutenant governor with the Republican gubernatorial ticket.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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