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Evelyn Koch, a Youngstown State University freshman who recently moved here from Omaha, Neb., gave serious consideration to her first ever vote being a “protest.” Koch, 19, who supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, said she thought about voting for the Vermont senator. Instead, Koch, the second person to vote in Mahoning County, said she cast her ballot for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. “The protest vote would have made it harder to get anything done,” Koch said. Koch, who lives on the YSU campus, changed her voter registration from her home state of Nebraska. Ohio “is more of a battleground state, and my vote has more impact,” she said.
YOUNGSTOWN
Evelyn Koch, a Youngstown State University freshman who recently moved here from Omaha, Neb., gave serious consideration to casting her vote for president as a “protest.”
Koch, 19, who supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, said she thought about voting for the Vermont senator. Instead, Koch, the second person to vote in Mahoning County for the 2016 general election, said she cast her ballot for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
“The protest vote would have made it harder to get anything done,” Koch said.
Koch, who lives on the YSU campus, changed her voter registration from her home state of Nebraska.
Ohio “is more of a battleground state, and my vote has more impact,” she said.
Koch was among about 75 people who stood in line Wednesday waiting for the Mahoning County Board of Elections to open at 8 a.m. for the first day of early voting.
In Mahoning County, 13,467 people voted early in-person at the board office in the 2012 general election, and 15,888 in the 2008 election.
Koch, a member of the YSU College Democrats, was among 20 YSU students who camped out overnight outside the board of elections to be among the first to vote.
“It was kind of exciting,” she said. “The bubble ballot was kind of like being back in high school taking a test, except there’s no wrong answer. It’s what you want.”
As for Clinton, Koch said, “I like that she holds Democratic political ideals,” such as backing Planned Parenthood and making college more affordable.
While the students camped out overnight, they allowed a few others to stand in line to get ballots before them.
The first was Cecil Turner of Youngstown, who got there three hours early to cast his ballot. Turner is a familiar face among early voters as he has spent the past few years voting on the first day.
“I got here at 5 a.m. so I could beat the line,” Turner said. “So many people fought for people to vote. I wouldn’t miss it. Voting is very important to me.”
Turner also voted for Clinton.
“She’s got more experience, and that’s what we need” for president, he said.
Having Republican nominee Donald Trump elected president “would be kind of scary,” Turner said. “His experience is building hotels.”
Despite being first in line, Turner took his time and was the third person to submit his ballot in the county.
Betty Smith of Youngstown was second in line and was the first person to submit her ballot. She got to the election office on Oak Hill Avenue at 7:30 a.m. and voted for Clinton.
“You’ve got to do your part to vote,” she said when asked why she showed up early. “I try to get it over with. Whoever gets in there, I hope they do the right thing.”
Trump voters also showed up at the board to vote early.
William and Linda Ferenczy of North Jackson, who will be vacationing on Election Day, decided to vote early for the first time.
“This is probably the most important election for the rest of my life,” William said. “The Supreme Court is the big issue for me in this election. Even if Trump doesn’t work out in four years, there will be Supreme Court justices serving for the rest of my life.”
A retired 27-year Navy veteran, he said that Clinton “ought to be in prison for disclosing classified information. I’d be in Leavenworth [a federal prison in Kansas] if I did a fraction of what she did.”
Also, Ferenczy objected to Clinton saying last month that “you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.” She later apologized.
“I have three college degrees and I defended my country,” he said. “To be lumped into that basket burns my posterior.”
His wife said that people want to portray Trump as being anti-woman, but “he stands with women. He gives them equal pay at his companies.”
As for the recent revelation of a 2005 video in which Trump made lewd comments and says that his fame allows him to grope women, Linda said, “I’m married to a sailor, and I’ve heard worse. It’s locker room talk. The Clintons’ actions speak louder than Donald’s words.”
Early voting goes until Nov. 7, the day before the general election.
Meanwhile, the board received about 27,000 requests for mail ballots as of Monday, and by law couldn’t send out the ballots until Wednesday, said Deputy Director Thomas McCabe.
All 27,000 should be mailed by Friday, he said.
In comparison, 30,864 people in the county voted by mail in the 2012 general election, and 26,686 did so in the 2008 election.