I Voted Today (In Ohio)! Turnout Is HUGE!

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Today I drove my wife's and my absentee ballots over to the Franklin County Board of Elections office to drop off. I was NOT prepared for what I was about to see. You would have thought an Ohio State football game was going on inside. The traffic was backed up on the road outside, there were no parking spaces to be had, there were people in flourescent vests directing traffic once you were inside the parking lot (because the amount of car traffic was staggering, and would have ground to a halt if not for people there to direct them). The line of cars to drop off absentee ballots at the drop box was a good 20 cars deep, and they had 2 lanes going simultaneously. And the line of people waiting to get into the building to vote early was unreal. There were literally HUNDREDS of people waiting to get in. I heard from someone else who was there that the wait was roughly an hour (they must have been shuttling people in and out really quickly). I saw a video of the line, and it stretched back past all the stores in the strip mall the BOE is in, around the corner, down the back of the building, and then along the length of it again. And this was all at about 2:00 on a Friday.

The turnout here in Franklin County (Columbus) is THROUGH THE ROOF, and from what I've heard, it's similar in all the other urban counties. That spells bad news for Trump. I was worried that there were just enough racist hillbillies in this State to hand it to Trump, but after seeing that line today (and today is the FOURTH day of early voting, NOT the first), I'm starting to believe that the recent polls showing Biden leading in Ohio are accurate.

People don't line up and wait an hour to vote for more of the same old garbage.

[LisaL]

1. Yes, democrats seem to be really determined, and Biden has a lot more support than

Clinton did in 2016. Also evident by all the Biden Harris signs (a lot more than were in 2016 for Clinton vs Trump, at least in my area).
By the way did you drop it off at the actual drop box, or were there people collecting ballots in a parking lot?

[Blue_true]

7. Another factor is we are going into this election without the discord in our

party that existed in 2020. I believe that will be huge this time around, on top of Trump’s now proven incompetence.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

12. There Were Volunteers Taking Ballots And Walking Them To The Drop Box

When I pulled up, I handed the lady my ballots, and she handed me 2 "I Voted" stickers and said, "Now I'm going to walk them over to the drop box and put them in." She must have had somebody tell her to say that so nobody would question what she was doing with them. She was literally standing right next to the box. All she had to do was turn around and put them through the slot, which I watched her do. So no shenanigans were going on, or even POSSIBLE, really. Not that I could see anyway.

No "poll watchers" or armed thugs outside either. Again, not that I could see. And I've heard no stories of anyone complaining of problems at the early voting places here in Ohio (I'm a member of a fairly active Ohio For Biden group on Facebook).

[LisaL]

15. The big problem is that Franklin send 50,000 wrong absentee ballots to people.

They plan to send correct ballots to affected voters within 3 days. I didn't know if my ballot was affected because I sealed it right away.
But apparently not, since I am not on the list of affected voters.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

17. Yes, And When I Heard This News, I Had Already Sealed Mine In The Envelope

So I couldn't open it to check if mine was one of the affected ballots, because opening the envelope would invalidate it. My wife checked hers and it was right, so I'm pretty sure mine was as well. And if it wasn't, I'm supposed to get an updated one soon, so I'm not all that worried about it.

[LisaL]

20. I did the same thing. Got mine, filled it out, sealed it, then saw news about this issue.

So I am waiting to send it. Board of elections just posted a list on their website of affected voters, so you can check if you are on the list or not. I am not, so my ballot is the correct one.

[Demsrule86]

21. Biden helped Obama win Ohio in 08 and12. He went to multiple venues. I was at wus at a fair.

number. Biden was and is popular in Ohio.

[crimycarny]

2. Thanks for sharing!

I’m with you in that I can’t imagine this bodes will for Trump. I don’t see people lining up for someone who ruined the economy and put the US as #1 for COVID deaths. It’s got to be mostly people voting for a change in leadership.

[LisaL]

3. They already know it's mostly democrats early voting in person and by mail.

Republicans are waiting for election day.

[crimycarny]

5. Dumb question

But how do they know? Are they basing that on the number of people of each who requested mail-in ballots?

[LisaL]

6. By registration.

In OH, you don't have to register as a democrat or a republican, but if you vote in a primary, you have to vote either for democratic primary, or for republican primary. That's how they assign people as a democrat or a republican. So they know more democrats are early voting, by mail or in person, than republicans.

[crimycarny]

8. Ah, I see

Thanks for the info.

[Blue_true]

9. It is more than that. In Florida, I am seeing people who did not vote in 2016 raring to vote for

Biden. Trump has a real problem on his hands, which is good for the country, he must be voted out.

[al bupp]

4. That, sir, is really good to hear.

Thanks for the report from on the ground Ohio!

[crickets]

10. Good news! Thanks for sharing that.

Thanks to everyone who is letting us know how their voting experience went. Early voting starts in my state next week. Can't wait!

[msongs]

11. great, the armed gangs at polls Nov 3 will be mostly intimidating repubs in line lol nt

[LisaL]

13. Sure looks like it.

NT

[coti]

14. Holy shit. nt

[Guilded Lilly]

16. I turned my ballot in to the Franklin Board of Elections On Tuesday...

Lots of voters, then, too, though I got through the drive up/drop off fast. It was constant. Two lines, two collectors in each line and yeah, tons of in-person voters waiting. No one seemed upset about it and everyone had on a mask
This was about 2:00 right before the regular rush hour starts.
I was fortunate to get the right ballot mailed to me so now I’m just tracking to make sure it gets counted soon!

[LisaL]

19. It's going to be close to 50% of voters voting by mail.

NT

[Guilded Lilly]

22. The numbers will be huge. And that is good news for Biden :)

[Demsrule86]

18. Voted in Cleveland today. I saw the same thing. Lots of voting early and also lines

of voters dropping off absentee ballots. Had to wait for parking too.

[Beringia]

23. Pictures would be nice

[iluvtennis]

24. Excellent. Thanks for sharing. nt

[ailsagirl]

25. Great to hear!!

[AdamGG]

26. No Republican has ever been elected President without carrying Ohio

[Demovictory9]

27. excellent

[yellowdogintexas]

28. Our in person early voting starts Tuesday but mail in ballots are already

being mailed in. I tracked mine and it is now at the ballot board for review.

We had massive traffic jam at our County Elections Board on Monday caused by last minute voter registrations. Traffic backed up all day - office was supposed to close at 5 pm but they were open until 10

Texas is definitely in the house

[SheltieLover]

29. So happy to hear of such strong commitment to save our cpuntty

And such efficiency!!!

Ty, OH voters!