Voter turnout on par with last year’s election, secretary of state’s office says

OHIO — Voters lined up to cast their ballot all day Tuesday on Election Day.

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Last we checked, nearly four million Ohioans voted in the 2023 November election, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s website.

It was just a few hundred thousand less than last year’s election when there were governor and senate races across the state.

News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott was in Clark County where some precincts saw higher-than-expected voter totals.

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She saw hundreds of people come in to vote in Clark County on Tuesday and thousands of ballots have been counted.

Both Statewide Issues 1 and 2 passed in Clark County.

McDermott says Issue 2 passed by about 4,000 votes and Issue 1 passed with just under 400 votes, less than one percent.

She spoke with voters and poll workers across the area. They said voter turnout was great for this election.

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“Oh yeah. Super easy,” said David Brewster of Miami County. “It always is. They always do their due diligence.”

McDermott reports Election Day was smooth for voters throughout the Miami Valley.

“Pretty quick,” said Marques Bronston of Clark County. “Quicker than last year.”

“It was great,” one Greene County voter told McDermott. “It’s like going to church, being around a bunch of people.”

“It went fine,” said Lisa Womack of Clark County. “It was really easy. It got in and I got out. It was good.”

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McDermott says most polls also reported no issues.

“Everybody’s been fabulous,” said April Rice. “Even the ones that I had to send to another location. Everybody’s been great.”

Poll workers were happy that everything went well, especially with how many people came out to vote.

McDermott asked Bronston if she was surprised by the turnout on Tuesday.

“Oh no,” she answered. “I’m surprised. That’s great. I mean, it’s great for the community and everything.”

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McDermott reports that the other polling locations she visited had a steady flow of voters as well.

In Montgomery County, close to 130,000 votes are anticipated.

At least 40,000 ballots were cast in Miami County and beat out the number of votes in last year’s gubernatorial election.

In Clark County, more than 41,000 ballots have been cast with a nearly 50% voter turnout.

“It would look like this if it was a presidential (election), but it’s not,” said Rice. “So, it’s a very, very good turnout.”

McDermott asked her if turnout was on par with presidential elections.

Rice said yes, at the Perrin Woods polling location.

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At least 3.8 million Ohioans voted this November, the Ohio Secretary of State’s website said.

Last year, just over 4.2 million Ohioans voted in 2022.

Nearly 6 million Ohioans voted in the 2020 Presidential election.

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