Tuesday’s election went as expected for election officials in Portage County, with a 53.27% turnout rate as of Thursday. 

Election day proceeded normally, said Faith Lyon, Director at the Portage County Board of Elections.

“Turnout was what we had anticipated,” she said. “In the morning, as always, election voting was strong and then remained steady throughout the day. Of course, in the evening after work hours it increased.” 

The predicted voter turnout was 55%. Lyon said it was a good turnout.

“We expected a good turnout on election day, and that’s what happened,” she said. “We were hopeful that folks would come out and vote and they definitely did in Portage County.” 

Election results remain unofficial as the board of elections waits to receive absentee ballots and count provisional ballots from in-person voters. 

As of Thursday morning, the total number of ballots counted in the county is 57,294, with 1,098 outstanding provisional ballots and 340 outstanding absentee ballots according to the Portage County Board of Elections. 

To be counted, absentee ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 6 and arrive to the board of elections by Nov. 13. 

All provisional ballots cast on or before election day in person have yet to be counted. The board of elections is required to do additional research to verify those ballots, Lyon said. 

This is the second election Ohio has required a valid photo ID to cast a ballot. This is one reason some people had to vote a provisional ballot, Lyon said. 

“We were really quite pleased with the low number of individuals that did not have valid IDs,” she said. “For those folks who didn’t, they were able to still vote that provisional ballot.”

In those cases, voters are required to bring proof of ID to the board of elections in the days after election day to verify their eligibility. 

Other reasons someone may vote provisionally are if they recently changed their address and did not update their voter registration, or if they recently changed their name without updating their voter registration. Lyon said the number of provisional ballots in this election was average for an election of this size. 

The election was smooth with no irregularities, she said. 

The turnout of Tuesday’s election was encouraging, Lyon said.

“We were pleased by the turnout, and we hope that our individuals in the county and throughout the state of Ohio continue to turn out and vote in large numbers,” she said. “It’s such an important part of our fundamental democracy.” 

Grace Springer is managing editor. Contact her at [email protected].