CINCINNATI — Sherry Poland has been with the Hamilton County Board of Elections for nearly 18 years. She's been the director since June 2014.
She doesn't like to measure her time with the BOE in years, though. Instead, she uses the number of elections she's helped administer during her tenure. So far, the count is four presidential elections and more than 40 election cycles.
Her current election cycle officially got started Tuesday with the beginning of early voting in Ohio. Registration to vote in November 2021 ended a day earlier.
What You Need To Know
- Early voting started Tuesday across Ohio
- Eligible residents can vote in person or via absentee ballot
- Board of Elections staff said early voting has picked up in popularity in recent years, especially during COVID-19
- Local political parties both see early voting as an opportunity and a test of where they stand
This year, there are 295 positions up for elections across Hamilton County. That includes the mayor of Cincinnati, all nine of the city’s council positions and spots on the Cincinnati Board of Education.
That doesn't include the multiple tax levies and a proposed amendment to Cincinnati's charter on the ballot.
“We’ve already seen a fair number of people come through our doors prepared to vote this morning,” Poland said. “We had a couple of people waiting outside our door just before 8 a.m. when we opened. People seem excited.”
In 2020, about 72% of Hamilton County's 600,000-plus eligible voters turned out to vote.
By comparison, voter turnout for Cincinnati municipal elections is usually pretty low. In the last mayoral race in 2017, only 31.22% of registered voters turned out. That year, 142 people cast a vote on the first day of early voting.
In 2021, that number was considerably higher. By 1 p.m., there had already been 154 voters. That number climbed to about 250 by the close of the day at 5 p.m., according to BOE Deputy Director Alex Linser. He won't know the exact number of provisional voters until Wednesday.
The board is open Monday through Friday for the next month of early voting. There will even be some weekend days in the days leading up to the election.
How early voting works
Ohio voters can submit their ballot early in one of two ways: Absentee, or by filling out in person at the designated site for a particular county. In most counties, including Hamilton, that's the local Board of Elections.
Hamilton County's BOE is on Smith Road in Norwood.
Poland said that if the early voting process sounds simple, that’s by design.
It's meant to make it easy for people to get the polls — whether that's before, or after work, or when you find time during the week. You can even vote on the weekend in the days leading up to Election Day.
"Early voting and voting by mail were created to ease the pressure on Election Day and to help cut down on the lines,” she said. She added that shorter lines could be enticing to some potential voters.
On average, Cincinnati gets around 70% of its 600,000-plus eligible voters to fill out a ballot in a presidential election. That number drops considerably in a non-presidential year, at least historically.
In her nearly two decades of local election experience, Poland said she’s seen some trends develop in recent years related to early voting. That has to do with a mixture of two things: Changes in state election laws and COVID-19.
Poland said before 2005, a person who wanted to vote early, or absentee would need a "valid excuse."
That excuse could be the result of a disability or a person's age. More common were people knowing they'd be out of their home district for work or school. Many times, it was because a person was a member of the United States Military.
While exceptions were granted, not everyone was eligible.
"What we've seen in Hamilton County over these past few years is that roughly 30% of voters in Hamilton County cast their ballots prior to Election Day," she said. "We know we've seen those numbers change in recent years.
Poland said since that law changed in Ohio, it has led to a drastic change in voter behaviors.
During the 2020 presidential election, for instance, 60% of Hamilton County voters cast their ballot before Election Day, and only 40% voted on Election Day.
"Now, we know that that had a lot to do with COVID-19. So, I think it will be interesting to see how that trend goes now. This is the first countywide election (since then)," Poland said. "It'll be interesting to see if people start going back to the more traditional way of voting at their polling place on Election Day, or sort of trends of voting prior will start to increase.”
Will party politics play a role?
Ellen Rakowski, interim executive director of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, said she sees the 2021 election as "integral" for the local party.
"We have dozens of endorsed candidates running in municipalities across the county and several endorsed ballot issues, all of which will move our country forward," she said. "This is not an off-year. The 2021 election is a year we Democrats are taking on and that started as ballots were cast today."
Rakowski credits the Board of Elections staff with making voting "easy and accessible" and for ensuring the "integrity of our elections."
"As we saw last year, early voting remains a way to ensure your vote has been cast in the event of any future pandemic uncertainties," she said. "With early voting so simple and absentee voting another accessible option, if voters wish to vote early or by mail, we encourage them to do that."
Alex Triantafilou is chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party. He said local campaigns are “in overdrive” right now trying to get out the GOP vote in the early voting period.
"We're seeing enthusiasm among Republican voters who are very unhappy with the direction of the country," he said. "We intend to make sure we get our people out to vote over the next month.”
Triantafilou went on to say he feels Ohio handled elections "the right way."
"My observation on this point is always to point out that voter suppression is a myth in Ohio because we have a month to vote. You'll have had over 200 hours of in-person early voting opportunities as well as the ability to vote from home and by mail,” he said. “I think in our state it’s very easy to cast a ballot, so I have no reservations or concerns.”
Triantafilou wouldn’t go as far as to make any predictions about what early voter turnout might say. He said it’s likely going to be variable based on where voters reside.
“In a place like Hamilton County, the impact of early voter turnout is really going to come down to the neighborhood or community. But in an off-year (non-presidential election year) like this, typically, high-voter turnout would be good for Republicans.”
“We know people are upset about the direction of things and apathy sometimes tends to set in when you're the party in power. So, being out of power in Washington has really energized Republicans,” he added.
Board of Elections
The Board of Elections is at 700 Smith Rd. in Norwood these days. But it used to be in downtown Cincinnati. It relcoated back in 2017.
At the time, some people expressed fears that moving the BOE would negatively affect lower-income voters, or those who rely on public transportation. Critics feared moving away from the urban core made it less accessible.
But Poland said data has shown the opposite is true.
"Our early in-person voting numbers have skyrocketed since we moved to Norwood, compared to downtown," she said. "This is a much more convenient location for county voters. It's centrally located in the county, just off of both major interstates and we have plenty of free public parking."
Poland said the building itself is more accessible, too. And she added that there are a handful of Metro routes have multiple stops within a block of the BOE.
For more information about the Board of Elections and early voting, visit VoteHamiltonCounty.org. Their phone number is 513-632-7000.