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There was only one issue on the ballot in Tuesday's special election, but it certainly brought out voters across Ohio.
That item -- Ohio Issue 1 -- aimed to change the way state residents can petition to change the constitution. And, shortly after the polls closed, it became evident the voters were happy to keep that at a simple majority -- 50 percent of the votes cast, plus one -- instead of instituting a stricter standard -- one which would require a 60 percent super majority.
Exact totals won't be known until the votes are certified, but the final numbers won't alter the outcome, which saw the proposed change fail by about 15 percentage points, or roughly 400,000 votes.
No matter what side of the issue you fell on, the turnout for Tuesday's special election was impressive. According to the office of Secretary of State Frank LaRose, about 3,063, 923 ballots were cast by the state's 7,950,303 registered voters. That works out to turnout of 38.5 percent.
While the hope always is more people will get involved in elections, that's a good number. Looking at the figures from the secretary of state's office, the vote percentages in counties across our area fell pretty much in line.
In Jefferson County, for instance, 13,882 of the 45,808 registered voters cast ballots -- that's 30.3 percent. In Harrison County, 3,299 of the 9,799 registered voters cast ballots -- that's 33.67 percent.
Carroll County, at 41.07 percent, had the highest turnout by percentage in our area -- 7,413 of its 19,049 registered voters cast ballots. Right behind was Columbiana County, which saw 37.86 percent -- 24, 251 -- of its 64,062 registered voters cast ballots. In Belmont County, the percentage was 29.49 -- 12,861 of its 43,611 registered voters.
The percentage of votes cast in our region did not vary a lot from the state's average, but the choice area residents made did -- the majority of voters in each of our area counties voted yes. In Jefferson County, the percentage of yes votes was 56.5. In Harrison County it was 62.5, while in Carroll County it was 66.91, in Belmont County it was 54.66 and in Columbiana County it was 60.76.
That represents a big difference from the primary election held in August 2022. The circumstances were a little different, but statewide in that election, voter turnout was 8 percent, numbers from the secretary of state's office show. In Jefferson County, the number was 4.9 percent. In Harrison County it was 8.9 percent. In Carroll County it was 9.9 percent, in Belmont County it was 4.8 percent and in Columbiana County it was 10.4 percent.
So, overall turnout was higher than normally might have been expected for an August election.
What also was impressive was the number of votes that were cast before Tuesday, either through absentee ballots or by voting at local board of elections.
When all of the numbers are finally compiled, it looks like that total will range between 650,000 and 700,000. Voters in our region are included in those figures, and they showed they were willing to use Ohio's early voting process.
According to information released daily by the secretary of state's office, 2,008 voters in Jefferson County cast an early in-person ballot. That works out to about 14.4 percent of the total ballots cast. In Harrison County, 493 residents voted early in-person, or 14.9 percent of its total ballots. In Belmont County, the number was 2,145, or 16.7 percent, while in Carroll County, it was 937, or 12.6 percent, and in Columbiana County it was 2,544, or 10.5 percent.
The busiest day for in-person early voting in Jefferson County was Aug. 4, when 203 votes were cast. The second-busiest day was Aug. 3, when 174 votes were cast.
Those numbers don't include the absentee ballots, and, keep in mind, they are unofficial.
When you add everything up, everything seems to indicate that people will turn out to vote when the ballot contains at least one item they are very interested in. That's important to remember, especially with the Nov. 7 election not that far off.
There will be plenty of things to vote on, from mayor in several communities to members of council and school boards, as well as township offices.
There will be many issues on the ballot that will have an impact on residents from around the county. Oh yeah … voters across the state will be deciding the fate of a constitutional amendment that covers reproductive rights.
If you aren't registered to vote, you have until Oct. 10 to complete that task. And, if you are planning to write a letter to the editor in advance of that election, remember that the deadline for those submissions will be Oct. 26.
While this voting season is just starting to warm up, it likely will seem tame as we continue to march toward Nov. 5, 2024, when the next presidential election will be held.
(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.)