In Portage County, there’s been a steady stream of early voters for the past month.
Results from the 2016 presidential contest in the county closely mirrored the statewide outcome. Donald Trump won Ohio by 8%; he captured Portage County with a 9.9% advantage.
With people lined up sometimes for hundreds of feet in Ravenna, the board has had occasional reports during early voting of electioneering that gets too close – or too intense – for voters.
But when Tracy Fuldaer from Kent was there, she says everyone was being respectful. Still, she decided to early vote just to avoid any conflict on Election Day itself.
“Some people tend to get aggressive and they come up to you and say, ‘vote for my candidate.’ And they’re passing out literature and whatnot and sometimes it just feels a little like, ‘can I just get inside?’"
Fuldaer says one of the factors that helped her decide how to vote was the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mark Presley from Ravenna decided to vote early because it’s convenient – and because he does not trust mail-in ballots. He also says he was concerned that coronavirus might cause another shutdown of the state before Election Day.
“I think they’re doing the best they can with the directives that have been put out. We’re all gathering out here under a tent when we could just be inside – it’s the same thing. I don’t agree with any of this other stuff, either: six [feet] social distancing, masks or anything else.”
All of the state’s early voting centers – which in all but 3 counties are at the county’s Board of Elections – are open for early voting today from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
