Voting Rights Group Says This Primary's Vote Total So Far Is Just Half Of 2016's

A voting rights organization says there are potentially a lot fewer voters who will cast ballots this year compared to the presidential primary four years ago. The group looked at totals so far for the March 17 primary that has been extended to April 28.

Mike Brickner with All Voting is Local has compared numbers for this primary with those from four years ago – when there was in person voting and a Republican primary that featured Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

“In 2016, we had a little over three million people who voted in the primary election. For the 2020 election thus far, we are looking at about only 1.5 million people who have either cast an early ballot or requested an absentee ballot since we extended the time," Brickner says.

This year’s contested Democratic primary is over and the vote is all by mail, and Brickner notes some who requested ballots might not return them so the total could be even lower. Brickner says he believes the vote totals are down because the mail-in balloting process is confusing for many voters.  Voters have until April 28 to return ballots but they must get them first by filling out absentee ballot request forms.

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