COLUMBUS – With 55 days to go until Election Day, Ohio voters have already sent in more than 1 million applications for absentee ballots, according to the state’s top elections official.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose says that 1,000,579 absentee ballot applications have been received by county boards of elections statewide.
Register to vote, request absentee ballots, get answers to all election questions here.
The state did not break the 1 million request threshold until 28 days before election day in 2016, La Rose said.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose has the latest election information on “Perspective”
He has predicted that many voters will choose to cast absentee ballots this year due to concerns about the coronavirus and interest in the presidential contest between President Donald Trump and. Former Vice President joe Biden
Absentee ballot request forms were sent out earlier this month to 7.9 million registered voters.
The deadline to register for the Nov. 3 presidential election is Oct. 5.
The final day voters can request an absentee ballot is Oct. 31 but LaRose recommends getting requests in the mail no later than Oct. 27 to ensure the request arrives in time.
Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 2 or dropped off in person at boards of election offices by Nov. 3 and those mailed in must arrive within 10 days after the election.
Absentee ballot requests and voter registration forms are available at the customer service desks at all 37 Franklin County Kroger stores and the Columbus Metropolitan Library offers voter registration information and resources online and at all 23 of its locations.
Five of the library’s branches will serve as polling locations for the general election.