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Boards of elections will be open late Tuesday for voter registration
YOUNGSTOWN
County election boards will remain open until 9 p.m. Tuesday to give people the opportunity to register to vote in the March 15 primary.
And a day later, early voting starts with elections officials in Mahoning and Trumbull counties expecting a solid turnout because of the presidential races in both major political parties.
“I’m expecting a pretty good turnout that first day” of early voting, said Stephanie Penrose, Trumbull County Board of Elections director. “There are a lot of people waiting, and they are raring to go.”
One issue, particularly in the Republican presidential primary, is while early votes can be cast starting Wednesday, there could be candidates no longer in the race when March 15, the day of Ohio’s primary, arrives.
“Some people may choose to wait until after more of the other states have primaries,” said Adam Booth, Columbiana County Board of Elections director. “They’re thinking, ‘I don’t want to vote if there are people dropping out.’”
“After Super Tuesday [March 1], a lot more people will vote in Ohio,” said Joyce Kale-Pesta, Mahoning County Board of Elections director.
On March 1, 14 states have Republican primaries or caucuses, and 11 states and American Samoa have Democratic primaries or caucuses.
Early in-person voting in Ohio will be weekdays from Wednesday to March 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On March 5, a Saturday, boards will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for early in-person voting. Voting at boards will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 7 to March 11. In the final three days before the March primary, in-person voting can be done at boards from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 12, a Saturday; 1 to 5 p.m. March 13, a Sunday; and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 14, a Monday.
Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. March 15.
Mailed absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than March 14, but voters can bring them to boards of elections by 7:30 p.m. March 15.
For those who aren’t registered, county boards of elections will be open until 9 p.m. Tuesday. The boards in Mahoning and Columbiana open at 8 a.m. and Trumbull opens at 8:30 a.m.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections is in Oakhill Renaissance Place, 345 Oak Hill Ave. in Youngstown.
Trumbull’s board is at 2947 Youngstown Road SE in Warren, and Columbiana County’s board office is at 7989 Dickey Drive in Lisbon.
Early voting starts Wednesday. Boards of elections also can accept absentee votes by mail starting the same day.
With the presidential race expected still to be contested with Ohio Gov. John Kasich as a Republican candidates, Kale-Pesta said turnout in Mahoning County should be close to 60 percent to 65 percent.
Turnout in Mahoning County in 2008, the last primary without an incumbent president, was 56 percent.
The expected turnout in Trumbull County for the primary will be “in excess of 50 percent,” Penrose said.
Turnout for the 2008 primary in Trumbull was 57 percent.
Turnout for Columbiana County, Booth said, is “hard to gauge. It depends on if Bernie Sanders, [a Democratic presidential candidate], is doing well. That can make it interesting in Ohio and increase turnout for Democrats. If [billionaire Donald] Trump, [the Republican frontrunner], falters and [others] attract more voters, turnout will be higher.”
He predicted percentage turnout for the primary to be in the low 40s, “but I wouldn’t be shocked if it was only in the high 30s.”
Turnout for Columbiana County in 2008 was 47 percent.