Clark County residents stream in for last weekend of early in-person voting

Credit: Bill Lackey

Credit: Bill Lackey

Clark County voters continued to flock to the Clark State Performing Arts Center’s Turner Studio Theatre on Saturday for early in-person voting prior to election day on Tuesday.

A line formed just inside the doors at the venue prior to its 8 a.m. opening. Many of those waiting mentioned work commitments for their being there and were grateful for the convenience of being able to begin their weekend this way.

Early voting will continue 1-5 p.m. Sunday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday at the theatre, located at 300 South Fountain Ave.

Amy Gray of Enon was bundled up against the chilly weather, sitting at the head of the line. She works two jobs in the Dayton area, making it tough to get back the city to vote, and mentioned the hardest part of this was waking up early.

“I’m pretty excited. This is a great alternative,” said Gray, a church music director who also works for Wright State University.

Colleen Smith of Springfield was dressed for her job as a nursing instructor at Hondros College of Nursing in Fairborn, which was where she was heading after voting. She encountered a longer line in the early afternoon on a previous visit and couldn’t stay.

“Early voting is always good. It’s just convenient for those who work,” Smith said.

Matt and Jan Ferguson were going to wait until Tuesday to vote, but found this easier. They admitted voting too early wouldn’t have worked as it gave them time to consider the candidates and their positions on issues more carefully.

Gray agreed on the convenience.

“It was very fast and that was one of the things I was concerned about. It was very efficient. It’s nice having these to just election day,” she said.

Staff also worked to make voters feel comfortable and gave a shout-out to first-time voters.

Clark County Board of Elections director Jason Baker said 1,500 voted on Friday, Oct. 29. He was grateful for Clark State opening the Turner for voting as their offices couldn’t have accommodated so many people.

It helps with social distancing and getting multiple people room to vote at once. He said curbside voting was also available.

“Come on down, be patient and we’ll get you through as soon as we can,” he said.


Early voting locations

Clark County

(New location for early voting) Turner Studio Theatre at the Clark State Performing Arts Center

300 South Fountain Ave., Springfield

Mailing Address: PO Box 1766 Springfield, OH 45501-1766 Telephone: (937) 521-2120 Fax: (937) 328-2603 E-mail: elections@clark.boe.ohio.gov Website: www.boe.ohio.gov/clark/

Champaign County

Champaign County Board of Elections

1512 South U.S. Hwy 68, Suite L100 Urbana

Telephone: (937) 484-1575 Fax: (937) 484-1578 E-mail: champaig@OhioSoS.gov Website: www.boe.ohio.gov/champaign/

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