Polls opened at 6:30 a.m. throughout Clark and Champaign counties. Poll workers were greeted by a stream of voters throughout the day.
Clark County Board of Elections director Jason Baker said on Tuesday afternoon that turnout was high on Election Day.
According to unofficial live turnout results from the Clark County Board of Elections, as of late Tuesday afternoon, Clark County had a voter turnout of nearly 30%.
“And other counties are seeing the same thing,” Baker said.
No technical or other issues among polling locations were reported as of Tuesday afternoon.
Voters had a variety of reasons for voting on a ballot that had only one issue on it, differing from other elections that feature a list of candidates and levies.
“Everybody gets a say,” Katy Parker said at the Tecumseh High School polling location on Tuesday morning. “And I don’t think the government should be able to pick.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Issue 1 looks at how Ohio can amend its constitution: If passed, the state will require 60% of the vote to amend the constitution. Currently, Ohio requires a simple majority.
It would also change the threshold citizen-initiated petitions need to get on the ballot. Petitions will need to receive signatures from 5% of the voters in all 88 counties as opposed to the current 44 counties.
Finally, Issue 1 would eliminate the 10-day cure period petitioners have to collect more signatures after filing with the Ohio Secretary of State. If petitioners fall short, they would have to start over instead of having 10 days to get the additional signatures.
Issue 1 precedes the Nov. 7 election, which is expected to feature an abortion-rights amendment.
In neighboring Montgomery County, voter Sherry Hamman said she thinks the ballot measure itself isn’t about abortion, however.
She said she felt a lot of misinformation was spread around the issue, and she encouraged people voting on Election Day to read the ballot measure language before making a decision.
The Dayton resident said she thought voting was neither a privilege nor a right, but a duty.
“It means a lot to me,” she said. “And I want people to think for themselves.”
Polls close at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Voters who did not have a photo ID with them at their polling location have four days to prove their identity with a state-issued photo ID.
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