Because more people are voting ahead of Election Day, there were lines, but county elections officials said no one really had to wait more than 20 minutes when a lengthy line occurred.
There were a few times the line to vote was sizable on Monday, which included when the doors opened at 8 a.m., the 10 a.m. hour, and in the last hour of early voting, which ended at 2 p.m. Monday. Occasionally, the line went out the northern door of the building at 1802 Princeton Road, but it moved quickly with more than two dozen voting machines available.
Butler County Board of Elections Deputy Director Eric Corbin said on Sunday, the third of three days of weekend in-person early voting, there was a line before they opened. He said some people arrived at noon that day, which he attributes to the time change. Early voting on Sunday went from 1 t 5 p.m.
Elections are often compared to similar elections, but this year’s gubernatorial election is rivaling past presidential elections, which tend to have the highest turnouts in any election cycle. Early in-person voting has exceeded 2012 in-person early voting (21,379) and wasn’t far off from 2016′s totals (28,890).
In-person early voting has been increasing in popularity in gubernatorial election years. More than 22,000 people voted at the Butler County Board of Elections office in the four weeks before Election Day, which is well over 3,000 more than voted early four years ago in 2018. It’s more than four times as many early voters in 2014.
It’s anticipated this gubernatorial election year, also known as midterms, will be around 55 to 60%. Four years ago, turnout was just under 55% in Butler County.
Fred Eck, of Liberty Twp., was one of the Republican Party’s observers for 2022 in-person voting, the first time he was an observer. Today, he will be a poll worker in his third election. He was impressed by how election workers handled the heavy turnout.
“It’s been interesting to see how efficient the poll workers are helping people, getting things resolved,” he said. “This is kind of neat to see how the system works. It helps me as a poll worker.”
The political parties have been rallying their bases to help get people to the polls, not only on Election Day, but during the early voting process, either by encouraging them to request a vote-by-mail ballot or go to the elections office.
Republicans and Democrats have been campaigning outside the board of elections office―at the 100-foot mark as required by election laws―as well as canvassing neighborhoods and posting campaign signs around the county.
“We have a great team that has been working hard the last few weeks,” said Republican GOP Executive Chairman Todd Hall. “Butler County is ready to ride the impending red tidal wave.”
Democratic Executive Chairwoman Kathy Wynandt said they, too, have mobilized volunteers across Butler County.
“People are very fired up,” she said. “We’ve been knocking down the doors, everywhere we can be, talking to voters. I really do think there’s a lot of enthusiasm.”
Butler County elections Director Nicole Unzicker urges people who have requested vote-by-mail ballots that were not mailed by Monday must be hand-delivered to the county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. Election Day, 1802 Princeton Road in Hamilton. Any vote-by-mail ballot delivered to polling locations will not be counted as per state election laws.
ELECTION 2022 VOTING
Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. today. People in line when polls close are able to cast their ballot. Voters can find their polling location at elections.bcohio.gov or call the elections office at 513-887-3700 for assistance.
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