LUCAS COUNTY, OH (WTOL) - Voting in Tuesday's primary election? Expect busy polling places.
The deputy director of the Lucas County Board of Elections Lavera Scott says Tuesday's primary election will have a high voter turnout.
"Ohio being a swing state, of course, is going to be a high turnout," said Scott. "I can say that over the last six days, early voting has definitely been indicative of that. We've had more voters in the last six days than we've had for the first 22 days total."
While it will be busy, Scott says Lucas County bought additional machines and placed them at every polling location, which creates a better ratio of people to machine.
"Our allocation of the 175 that the state has, we've actually d ropped our numbers to be close to, instead of one to 175, it's closer to one to like 163 or 164," said Scott.
Looking to get to a machine quickly? Scott says avoid a polling place when it opens, is close to closing, or during lunch.
"We notice there's usually a slight increase, you know, when the 1 o'clock time comes and even more after the 5 o'clock time," said Scott.
At a Lucas County Board of Elections meeting Monday, board members determined what they call 'voter intent,' as some early voters confused the machines by scribbling out a vote or drawing other marks.
Voters who don't want their ballots to become problematic should follow instructions and take their time.
"Please, please, please, yes, when marking the ballot, understand that you shouldn't circle the name, you shouldn't put check marks next to the name," said Scott. "That they would clearly fill in the bubbles."
For people still holding on to their absentee ballot, Scott says those needed to be postmarked by Monday. However, Scott says you can d rop them off at the Lucas County Board of Election's Office at One Government Center on primary election day, Tuesday.
Scott says you cannot d rop off an absentee ballot at a polling place.
