Ohio set a record for early in-person voting, the secretary of state announced Tuesday.
“Our data team has been busy running the early voting numbers still coming in from the counties, and I’m thrilled to confirm today that Ohio set a new statewide record for in-person early voting,” Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose wrote in a post on social platform X.
He added that 68 of the state’s 88 counties surpassed the early in-person numbers that the state hit in 2020.
Approximately 1.54 million people voted early in person this year in Ohio. Overall, approximately 2.57 million ballots were cast early, as of midday Tuesday, including the approximately 1.03 million absentee ballots returned by mail. Approximately 120,000 absentee ballots were still outstanding and can be counted if they arrive at their respective county boards of election within four days of the election.
Because the pandemic compelled many people to request absentee ballots, LaRose said he does not expect mail-in absentee ballots to surpass the 2020 record. He said, however, he is optimistic about voter confidence in casting ballots early.