COLUMBUS – The state elections chief says nearly 8.1 million Ohioans are signed up to vote in the November election.
That’s the second highest number since Democrat Barack Obama faced Republican John McCain in 2008.
The latest figures from Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose showed 8,080,050 residents of the presidential battleground state are registered.
The data showed Democratic registrations have risen by over a quarter of a million since 2016, to nearly 1.6 million.
The number of registered Republicans fell over that same period by 120,000, though the party’s total still remains larger at 1.9 million.
Most voters remain unaffiliated.
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The race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden remains essentially tied in Ohio, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
Likely voters support Biden 48% to 47% for Trump with 4% undecided.
This is identical to the last Quinnipiac survey released on September 24th.
Trump won Ohio, with its 18 electoral votes, by 8 points in 2016.
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Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris was due to appear Friday in Cleveland but the Biden campaign says she will suspend in-person events until Monday after two people associated with the campaign tested positive for coronavirus.
The campaign said Biden had no exposure, though he and Harris spent several hours campaigning together in Arizona on Oct. 8. The campaign told reporters Thursday morning that Harris’ communications director and a flight crew member tested positive after a recent campaign trip.
Her visit to Ohio would have followed Biden’s swing through Toledo and Cincinnati on Monday and a recent advertising push by the campaign into traditionally Republican counties.
Aside from the presidential debate in Cleveland last month, Trump’s last Ohio appearances were Sept. 21, when he campaigned in Toledo and Dayton.
Vice President Mike Pence stumped in Columbus on Monday.