Ohio voters are a week into early voting for the May primary. They're deciding hundreds of local issues, a major statewide issue on how Congressional maps are drawn and the party candidates for five major statewide offices.
Ohio’s top elections official, Secretary of State Jon Husted, urged people to vote while acknowledging that there’s usually low turnout in primaries – on average, under 30 percent.
“But there have been 140 elections over the course of the last four years that have been decided by one vote or tied, and so one vote really can make the difference and make sure that your voice is heard," said Husted.
Husted is also Mike DeWine’s running mate in the Republican primary for governor.
Husted, says that 116,272 absentee ballots have been requested and 11,524 people have cast their votes. Of those, 3,280 were cast by mail. That’s 10 percent more requested ballots than at this point before the primary four years ago.
About 50 percent more Democratic ballots have been requested than Republican ballots.
So far, fewer people have actually cast those ballots than at this point four years ago. At the same point in 2014, Ohioans had requested 109,415 absentee ballots and cast 31,709.
