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5 things you should know about election
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
The early polls are closed, Election Day polls are open through this evening, and the candidates are in their final push to drum up support for the offices they seek.
So goes the final day of casting ballots in the 2014 general election, with seven statewide posts, a majority of state lawmaker seats, congressional candidates and local issues to be decided.
Here are five things you should know about Election Day and the statewide contests on the ballot:
111If you are visiting the polls today, make sure you have state- required personal identification. The list includes a valid driver’s license, military ID or other government-issued identification, copy of a current utility bill or paycheck or other government document showing your name and address.
111Don’t try taking it your polling place, unless that location also happens to be the board of elections office.
If you requested and received an absentee ballot in the mail but did not use it, you may end up having to cast a provisional ballot so elections officials can make sure you’re not trying to vote twice.
111In 2012, 5.6 million out of nearly 8 million registered Ohioans cast ballots, or about 71 percent. In 2010, about 4 million of 8 million registered voters, or 49 percent, cast ballots.
Absentee voting totals this year have lagged both of those elections.
1111Additionally, voters will decide two seats on the Ohio Supreme Court, all 99 seats in the Ohio House, about half of the seats in the Ohio Senate and more than half a dozen members of the state board of education.
Statewide results will be posted on the secretary of state’s website (vote.ohio.gov) as they’re processed throughout the evening.
111Gov. John Kasich made a midday stop at his early polling place to vote. It took the governor a little more than four minutes from the time he entered the until he was done casting his absentee ballot in person.
“Everybody have a great day and make sure you get out to vote,” he said afterward.
Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald made a late afternoon stop at Ohio Democratic Party headquarters to thank volunteers who helped with his campaign.