Statewide Early Voting Continues This Weekend

Early voting ahead of the November 7 ^th general election continues around the state this weekend through Monday.  The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections office downtown will be open for in-person voting and drop off of vote-by-mail ballots. 

“And the big advantage is you don’t have to worry about something coming up on election day,” said Mike West, the Board's spokesman. “You get your voting out of the way and you don’t have to worry about trying to go home from work to where you live to vote or if something happens in the morning and you’re running late or you’re hungry after work and decide to skip it.  So it’s really sad if people wait til it’s too late and decide not to vote.”

Speaking on 90.3’s the Sound of Ideas, West said vote-by-mail ballots can also be dropped off at the Board's drive-through ballot box.

“If you’ve got your ballot at home sitting on the coffee table, you gotta make sure you mail it on or before Monday because it’s got to be postmarked the day before the election.  So on election day if you’ve still got that ballot, just swing by the Board of Elections and drop it off,” said West.

He said the Board expects this election to mirror November 2013, with about a 30 percent voter turnout.

“But I want you to imagine your living room and the wall in your living room and you’ve got 10 people lined up against that wall.  Three of them will step forward and make all the decisions for the other seven,” said West. “So if you don't want that to happen, get out and vote.”

West says so far, about 90,000 people in Cuyahoga County have cast their ballots out of nearly 885,000 registered voters. 

Polls are open throughout the state on Tuesday from 6:30 am until 7:30 pm.