COLUMBUS – The final week before one of the most consequential elections in recent memory will be characterized by long lines at early-voting locations, streams of absentee ballots passing through postal facilities and voters’ anxiety about misinformation.
Early voting continues to proceed at a record pace in Ohio. The number of voters casting ballots early is nearly triple that of 2016 and 3.2 million voters have requested absentee ballots, Secretary of State Frank La Rose said. The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is Saturday but LaRose encourages voters to request their now to give themselves plenty of time to receive it and return it in time to be counted.
The Franklin County Board of Elections reports that more than 244,000 voters have either returned absentee ballots or voted in-person.
Early voting hours in Ohio
Weekdays – 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. through Friday, Oct.30th
Saturday, Oct. 31st – 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 1st – 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 2nd – 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
-Polls open 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Election Day Nov. 3
LaRose says voters should be on the lookout for misleading information or attempts at voter intimidation and report them.
“If you believe that you’re seeing false information, intentional disinformation about elections, report it. We don’t tolerate that in Ohio,” he said during Gov. Mike DeWine’s televised coronavirus briefing Tuesday afternoon.
He credited tipsters with alerting authorities to the activities of two conservative operatives who have been charged with telecommunications fraud and bribery in Ohio for organizing tens of thousands of hoax robocalls falsely warning about consequences for voting by mail.
The prosecutor for Cuyahoga County, where Jacob Wohl, 22, of Los Angeles, and Jack Burkman, 54, of Arlington, Va., were indicted Tuesday, says 8,100 robocalls were made to residents in the majority-Black cities of Cleveland and East Cleveland warning information from their mailed ballots could be used to enforce arrest warrants, collect debts and forced vaccinations.
The men face similar charges in Michigan.
Americans are worried about the Nov. 3 election, partly because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and his calls for an army of “poll watchers” to monitor the vote.
Rising gun sales have contributed to the worry.
Elections officials and voting advocates are on high alert, including more training to de-escalate any confrontations.
More people have already voted than the 58 million Americans who cast early ballots in 2016.