COLUMBUS – Entering the final weekend of the 2020 presidential race, former Vice President Joe Biden has opened a lead on President Donald Trump in Ohio, where the two were deadlocked just a few days ago.
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In a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday, 48% of likely Ohio voters support Biden and 43 percent support Trump, compared to a statistically insignificant 48%-47% margin for Biden in a similar poll on Oct. 14.
“A race that’s been virtually tied now looks to be tilting toward Joe Biden. The question is whether he can hold onto that slight lead in a state where President Trump won comfortably in 2016,” said Mary Snow, the university’s polling analyst.
Voting hours in Ohio:
Saturday, Oct. 31 – 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 1 – 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 2 – 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls open 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
Hand-delivered absentee ballots cannot be handed in at any polling locations. They must be delivered to county board of elections offices by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3.
If mailed, it must be post-marked by Monday, Nov. 2 and received by the board of elections no later than Friday, Nov. 13. It is recommended that voters take ballots to a post office facility and have it hand stamped to assure it is post marked by Nov. 2.
News organizations are preaching caution to Americans who are expecting results on Election Night.
A dramatic increase in early and mail-in voting this year will complicate what used to be a fairly cut-and-dried process of reporting election results.
In Ohio, 39% of likely voters in Ohio say they will vote in person on Election Day, according to Quinnipiac University poll, while the remainder say they have voted or will vote by mail or absentee ballot or at an early voting location.
Thirty-two percent say they have voted or will vote by mail or absentee ballot and 26% say they have or will cast their ballot at an early voting location.
The 2008 record of 71.5 million people watching televised election night coverage could well be eclipsed.
Concerns about the coronavirus led to a potential shortage of poll workers in Ohio and Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office partnered with attorneys, accountants, realtors and even barber shop and salon owners to recruit workers.
As of Thursday afternoon, 56,789 Ohioans had been trained and were ready to serve at polling locations on November 3rd, exceeding the aggregated statewide goal of 55,165.
Sign up here to be a poll worker on Election Day
Five counties — Ashtabula, Greene, Jackson, Pike, and Vinton – are a little over 4,000 workers short of their minimum number, LaRose said.
In Ohio, each county board of elections, by a majority vote, appoints four electors for each precinct who are residents of the county in which the precinct is located to serve as poll workers. No more than half of the poll workers assigned to a precinct may be members of the same political Party.
Poll workers are paid for their time and can donate their earnings to a nonprofit or charity of their choice.
In Ohio 17-year-old high school seniors can serve as poll workers.