“We were expecting a big turnout today, this weekend,” said Butler County Board of Elections Deputy Director Jocelyn Bucaro. “Given the turnout we’ve seen throughout the early voting period, and the fact that lots of voters wait until the last weekend to vote, we thought turnout will be big.”
Butler County is the seventh most-populous county in Ohio based on the most recent Census estimates. More than 7,300 people voted in-person over the weekend at the Butler County office at 1802 Princeton Rd., with a record-setting 2,672 people voting on Friday. This presidential election has already surpassed the 2012 record year in vote-by-mail and in-office voting.
GALLERY: Early voting in Butler, Warren counties
Warren County, the 12th most-populous Ohio county, saw more than 4,500 people vote from Friday to Sunday, and many people were waiting in line more than an hour after early voting polls closed on Sunday. There were also a few hundred people waiting in line for the board of elections office polls to open on Sunday, said Warren County elections Director Brian Sleeth.
“I think with all the media hype, yes, it was expected,” he said of the long lines.
Sleeth, who’s working his third presidential election with the elections office, said the new building at 520 Justice Dr. was designed with this election in mind.
“We knew we were going to have these lines,” he said. “Every day this week there’s been lines before we’ve opened.”
Many people in line were happy to wait the 20 to 30 minutes in Butler County and the 90 minutes in Warren County.
“This is great that we get to participate,” said Mason resident Rahul Nayak. “It shows that people are motivated and involved.”
Though he expected a line, a 90-minute wait was not anticipated, but when asked if he’s happy to wait that long to vote: “No problem. Absolutely.”
Brad Malott is a 2015 graduate of Madison High School and said long lines mean people are voting.
“You hear a lot about, especially millennials like me, not getting out here to vote,” he said. “It’s good to see long lines.”
And Malott said it’s important, and believes “with the long line other people feel the same way.”
West Chester Twp. resident Gene Ellington said he’s “been in longer” lines and wanted to vote on Sunday to make sure his vote was recorded. If the early voting lines are long, he believes Election Day lines will also be long.
“I want to make sure nothing happens that gets in the way of casting my vote,” he said.
But Ellington has a similar sentiment many others also have: “I’ll be glad to see it over.”
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