Anticipating similar early voting turnout because of the issues regarding abortion and legalizing recreational marijuana, the detour is back in place.
Officials have closed Hampshire during voting hours and are rerouting drivers over to Bypass 4 and onto Princeton Road, where the Board of Elections sits.
BOE Director Nicole Unzicker said hundreds of people have been trying to get to their offices during early voting, which is tucked away off the beaten path. They have been working with the sheriff’s office, Hamilton and the Ohio Department of Transportation on this effort
“Due to the unexpectedly high turnout in August that caused some traffic and accessibility issues, we decided it would be best to be proactive during the last few weeks in the early voting period of the November general election,” she said. “This detour that is utilized during high turnout elections will continue to assist in minimizing the traffic congestion on Hampshire backing onto State Route 129, which would make unsafe driving conditions on a high-speed road.”
Unzicker told the Journal-News as of Thursday 7,411 people have voted in person and 6,281 mail-in ballots have been returned for a total of 13,692, compared to 4,782 ballots cast a week ago.
The topics driving the vote are Issue 1, which would amend the Ohio Constitution to grant all individuals the right of reproductive autonomy and Issue 2 which would legalize recreational marijuana.
The last time voters were asked to make choices for city councils, township trustees and school board members was in November 2021. A total of 3,325 had cast ballots roughly two weeks before that election.
Special elections are also not usually well-attended, but in August voters were asked a question that many considered a precursor to the two November statewide issues, namely should it be more difficult — 60% versus a simple majority — to change the state’s constitution. It failed. At this time in August 10,362 people had voted.
Despite high turnout numbers Deputy Director Eric Corbin said lines at the polls haven’t been long.
“We’ve had a lot of voters come through...,” he said adding they made preparations when early voters came out in droves in August. “We haven’t had any lines because we’ve got so many people working checking them in so we’ll be ready for that weekend to get people in and out as fast as we can.”
2023 Voter Guide
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