Ohio Early Vote Ends With 399,918 Ballots Cast

The early voting period for the 2026 Ohio election ended on Sunday, with 399,918 ballots cast. This total exceeds the entire early vote count from the 2022 midterm election. The state has 8,956,209 registered voters. Election Day is scheduled for Monday, with polling places open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Crowds gathered at county boards of elections across the state on the final day of early voting. In Franklin County, voters stood in lines that extended around the perimeter of buildings. At one location, people remained in line past 6 p.m., more than an hour after the polls closed for the day.

Demetria Peacher, a Columbus resident, arrived at her polling place around 10 a.m. after attending church. She waited approximately three hours to cast her ballot. Peacher works in the non-profit sector and cited funding constraints as a reason for her early participation.

“I work in non-profit so with everything that’s going on now, we don’t have the funding to do things we’d love to do to help people in just meeting basic needs,” Peacher said.

Brad, a cancer patient who declined to share his last name, voted early due to concerns about health care access. He described the current administration’s handling of health coverage as intermittent and disruptive during treatment.

“Health care is hard to come by, and the current administration makes it so intermittent. They try to take it away in the midst of your treatment, so that’s very important to me,” Brad said. He and other voters indicated they were selecting candidates focused on lowering the cost of living.

Okema Graham expressed fatigue with the current political climate and negative publicity. She said voters want to support a more positive political environment. Absentee ballots that have not yet been mailed must be delivered to county boards of elections before polls close on Monday.