MANSFIELD — State Issue 1 has certainly gotten the attention of Richland County voters.
“We have been extremely busy. I would never have guessed this kind of turnout,” Richland County Board of Elections Director Matt Finfgeld said Monday.
After almost five full days of early voting, 1,455 residents had either voted in person or requested an absentee ballot for the Aug. 8 special election.
It’s been a bipartisan response with 544 Democrats, 523 Republicans and 388 independents participating in the first four days either in person or absentee.
State Issue 1 gives voters a chance to make amending the constitution more difficult — just three months before a pro-choice group plans to have its own amendment issue on the ballot that would loosen abortion laws in Ohio.
(Click above to download and read a four-page document on State Issue 1 produced by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office, including the full text of the amendment and arguments for and against its passage.)
During an August 2022 special election, which included the primary to represent Richland County in the Ohio House, just 4,484 votes were cast in the entire election cycle.
Finfgeld said the board office at 1495 W. Longview Ave. had 870 in-person early votes cast in the first four days last week. Early voting began July 11.
During the 2022 general election in November, which was a gubernatorial election year, there were 879 in-person votes in the first four days of early voting.
“We staffed the office pretty heavy in the early voting and we are glad we did,” Finfgeld said. “We were not sure what to expect, but thank goodness we did that.”
The early voting work is occurring at the same time the local elections office is certifying voter signatures related to the abortion amendment in November and signatures related to the Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative.
Local elections officials are also busy handling petitions for candidates seeking local office in 2024.
Both of those proposed amendments to the state constitution could be on the Nov. 7 ballot, facts not lost on Finfgeld and Deputy Director Jane Zimmermann.
“If that happens, Jane and I already discussed it,” Finfgeld said. “We expect it would be like a presidential election year with 60 to 70 percent voter turnout.
There were 103 in-person additional votes recorded in the first three hours on Monday morning, he said.
In a county that produced only 5.52 voter turnout in August 2022, Finfgeld said he is happy to see increased resident participation.
“We do like it. That’s why we are here. It’s the whole point of our existence,” he said.
All early in-person voting must be done at the local elections board in the lower level classroom.
Through July 28, voting can be done on weekdays only between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Visit the Richland County Board of Elections website for information on early voting. — https://www.boe.ohio.gov/richland/
