Largest Ohio county seeing dip in absentee ballots

CLEVELAND (AP) — Elections officials are reporting a drop in signups for absentee ballots in Ohio’s largest county, which backed down from mailing out unsolicited applications.

The Plain Dealer of Cleveland reports requests for absentee ballots in Cuyahoga County are down by about one-third compared to the similar election in 2009.

County Executive Ed FitzGerald says one reason for the decline is Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted’s directive against counties automatically mailing out absentee ballot applications. But a Husted spokesman says the numbers reflect that the election features mostly local races that typically mean lower turnout.

The county had threatened to defy Husted’s order and mail out applications anyway but agreed not to as part of a settlement with Husted.