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2020 is looking to be a pivotal year in politics. But this year's elections are about much more than the race for the White House. And the coronavirus pandemic is proving to be a complicating factor. WKSU, our colleagues at public radio stations across Ohio and the region and at NPR will bring you coverage of all the races from the national to the local level.

Democrats In Ohio's Biggest Counties Flooding Boards With Ballot Requests

Absentee ballot requests have been pouring in to boards of elections around Ohio, and are approaching all time records. And in most counties, applications from Democratic affiliated voters are leading those from Republicans, in a state that President Trump won by eight points. That includes the state’s three largest counties, which haven’t always been Democratic strongholds.

A survey of absentee ballot requests from the state's most populous counties shows big numbers from voters affiliated with Democrats, as has been happening in most of the state.

Hamilton County is the most recent of the largest counties to turn blue, which it did in 2008. Just over half - 56% - of the all mailed-in absentee ballots in 2016 came from Democratic voters. So far in 2020, two thirds, or 69% of requests are from Democrats. 

Franklin County has been won by Democrats since 1996. But in 2016, Republican voters were 56% of all absentee ballots turned in. This time, 76% percent of absentee requests are from Democrats.

The last time Cuyahoga County voted for a Republican for president was in 1972.  Democrats made up 64% of all absentee ballots mailed in in 2016. So far in 2020, 80% of those turned in have been from Democrats. And nearly two thirds of all affiliated Democrats in Cuyahoga County have asked for absentee ballots.

Copyright 2020 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.
Karen Kasler
Contact Karen at 614/578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.