Ohio Voters Prepare to Head to the Polls for May Primary Election
ZANESVILLE, OH – The May Primary Election is tomorrow, Tuesday May 5th, and the Ohio Secretary of State shared some things voters should keep in mind as they head out to the polls.
Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, says they often see lower voter turnout for Primary Elections but they are just as important as Election Days in November.
He says the Primary ballots usually have things like local levies, issues or questions, as well as candidates to represent each party.
“This is when you choose who your party’s standard bearer is going to be for the November election.” LaRose said. “Once more, it’s going to be an easy process for you. We always work to make it convenient for you to vote in Ohio, but particularly, when we expect there to be relatively low turnout; you’re going to get in and out in 15-20 minutes. We’ll even give you a free “I voted” sticker, and you’re going to know that you had an impact in a really positive way on the community.”
Early Voting ended on Sunday and the time to request an Absentee ballot has passed, but Secretary LaRose provided some numbers on the amount of absentees that have been received by mail.
He says 160,585 absentee ballots were requested by voters and they have received about 121,137 of them back, leaving about 39,000 ballots still out there.
LaRose says it’s too late to drop them in the mail, but you can still drop them off to your local Board of Elections Office by 7:30 on Election Night.
“The Primary is when your party picks their candidates; of course in Ohio, you pick either a Republican Primary Ballot, or a Democrat Primary Ballot, or maybe a minor party ballot.” LaRose said. “That’s when you’re choosing who is going to represent your party on the November ballot and again, it’s not just that. There are issues, tax levies, and that kind of thing.”
If you’re heading out to the polls make sure to bring some form of identification, that can be your Driver’s License, State ID, Military ID, or Passport.
The Muskingum County Board of Elections Office will be open from 6:30AM until 7:30PM on Tuesday.
