OHIO — Early voting around the state kicked off for the second time, with those who intended to vote by absentee ballot, in person, or by mail.
This second round of voting is for the Aug. 2 primary. This date for a primary was already on the calendar for a special election if it was needed. The primary was set in motion after several attempts by the Ohio Redistricting Commission to come up with new legislative maps.
Although the Ohio Supreme court rejected the constitutionality of the maps, a federal court ruled they be put in place for the election. As a result, voters will see candidates running for state house and senate races, along with members of the state central committees based on the third set of maps adopted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission back in February.
More than 300,000 ballots were cast back in May, which was higher than 2018, with Republicans turning out in stronger numbers than others, according to the Secretary of State’s website.
Spectrum News Legal Analyst Rory Riley-Topping said she does believe this time around, Roe v. Wade will inspire some voters to head to the polls, but it’s not clear what kind of impact that will have.
In addition, the map issue turned voters off a while ago and could keep some away. That’s because people saw it was a complicated process and hard to follow, leaving them unclear about who they’d really be voting for when the time came. Officials with Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office said they do realize this election may be a little more of a challenge since people may not know about it.
Although it’s not clear what turnout will actually look like just yet, boards of elections had to make adjustments to meet the need. That includes merging polling locations.
Voters will be notified by mail if their polling location changed. Plus, while boards of election are still actively recruiting poll workers, state officials say boards of election have been notified that 17-year-olds who have completed their junior year in high school can be poll workers in the Aug. 2 primary and they’ll get paid for it.
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