COLUMBUS – Ohio’s virus-extended 2020 primary is finally coming to end, nearly 10 weeks after voting began.
Officials postponed in-person voting scheduled March 17 for safety amid the pandemic, and they wound up with a mostly vote-by-mail plan that will allow in-person voting Tuesday for some people with special circumstances.
It’s the first election of its kind in the state. Voter participation has been running at about half of the 2016 turnout, when two hotly contested presidential primaries were on the ballot.
With one week remaining before the deadline set by lawmakers, Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office reported that approximately 1.67 million of Ohio’s 7.8 million eligible voters had requested mail-in absentee ballots.
This year, the state still has some contested congressional primaries as well as races for legislative seats, judges, and local candidates and issues.