CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - There are just days before the Nov. 3rd election and records are being shattered for the amount of Ohioans voting early in-person at their county board of elections.
In 2018, 177,046 total had voted early, in person the week before the election according to the Ohio Secretary of State, Frank LaRose.
As of Wednesday morning, 770,601 people have already voted in the 2026 mid-term elections in Ohio.
According to Case Western Reserve University professor Jonathan Entin there are a couple of reasons for the explosion of votes.
For one, the ease and comfortability of people going to their board of elections and getting their votes recorded.
Another possibility, people may fear putting their ballots in the mail.
The rules have changed in Ohio this year, and if your mail-in ballot is not received by the close of polls on Nov. 3, 7:30pm, it will not be counted.
In the past there was a grace period and ballots were still counted days after the elections.
There’s also the political climate in the state which may be driving voters on both sides to vote early.
Ballance of power is up for grabs Congress with Republicans holding a thin majority in both the House and the Senate.
When asked for his prediction, Professor Entin said he thinks the Democrats will likely take back control of the House, but the Senate will be a tougher task.
In this week’s Ohio Decides podcast we discuss all of the above topics, as well as what will happen in President Donald Trump’s last two years if control of Congress is divided.
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