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First-time early voters came out on first day of early voting
YOUNGSTOWN
A number of people tried early in-person voting for the first time on the first day to cast such ballots for this election.
Voter traffic was steady, but not heavy, on Tuesday, the first day of early in- person voting, Mahoning County election officials said.
Susan Peck of Boardman and Walt Flickinger Jr. of Struthers were among the first early voters in Mahoning County.
Both will be out of the area Nov. 4, Election Day, so they went Tuesday to the county board of elections in Oakhill Renaissance Place on Youngstown’s South Side to vote.
“I’ve never missed a vote in my life,” Flickinger said. “This was very convenient for me. It’s simple, and the staff was very helpful.”
Peck said she “didn’t want to skip voting. It was a good process and very organized. I had the time to do it today.”
She had planned to vote last week.
But the day before early voting was to start last Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that lower federal courts had overstepped their authority by adding a week of in-person early voting and additional Sundays in Ohio.
Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras — surrounded by elected officials, party candidates on the ballot, and Democratic loyalists — said at a Tuesday press conference that Republicans are trying to suppress the votes of Democrats, who typically vote early more than Republicans.
“Republicans want to do everything they can to stop working families from expressing themselves at the one place where they can’t be silenced: the voting booth,” Betras said. “But as we’re demonstrating [Tuesday], try as hard as they might, they can’t stop us from casting our ballots, and they never will. From now through Election Day, the Mahoning County and Ohio Democratic parties will take advantage of every day, every hour when the polls are open.”
In response, Mahoning County Republican Party Chairman Mark Munroe said, “You can tell how weak the Democrats are by trying to create an issue where there is none. Ohio has one of the most generous early voting schedules in the country.”
Those wanting to vote early in person at boards of elections can do so between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. through Friday as well as next Monday to Oct. 17, Oct. 20-24 and Oct. 27-31.
Also, early in-person voting can be done between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, both of which are Saturdays, as well as between 1 and 5 p.m. Nov. 2, the Sunday before the election, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 3, the day before the election.
At a Tuesday county board of elections meeting, Betras said he initially resisted voting to establish those hours as the secretary of state already had mandated the days and times, and what was the purpose of making him vote on what he calls restricted hours.
“It’s almost like you’re making me do this,” he said. “I followed the law, but why force me to vote on it?”
The polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
About 10 members of the Youngstown State University Chapter of the Young Democrats camped out overnight outside the board offices to be the first to vote Tuesday.
“It’s important for people to vote early as they can get caught up with their schedules and not have time” to vote on Election Day, said Jordan Wolfe, a YSU junior from Youngstown and Young Democrat member.
Jenna DeLaurentis, a YSU freshman from Boardman and a Young Democrat member, said the overnight experience was positive.
“We got involved in the voting process and were able to get the word out about early voting,” she said.
Ernie Barkett, a YSU freshman from Canfield, who is president of the Young Democrats and Betras’ nephew, said, “College students have busy schedules. We want to show students that it’s easy to vote early” at the board of elections.