It’s a highly unusual primary election day in Butler County

It’s primary election day in Ohio and so far about 49,000 early votes have been cast and five voters came to cast in-person ballots at the Butler County Board of Elections.

Deputy BOE Director Eric Corbin said they hope to have unofficial results for votes counted by about 8:45 p.m. today. He said they have the majority of the ballots scanned in and ready to upload tonight.

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On March 16, Ohio’s public health director Dr. Amy Acton declared a public health emergency and ordered all polls closed for the March 17 presidential primary election. After a push by state officials to delay the primary to June, Ohio lawmakers set the all-absentee ballot election of today.

Corbin said they have 10 voting machines set up at their office on Princeton Road, as opposed to the usual 40 machines during a normal primary election day. He said they are following all the state-ordered protocols for sanitizing and social distancing. Voters who don’t have a mailing address, have moved, changed their name or didn’t receive an absentee ballot are allowed to vote in person.

The BOE received about 49,000 early voting requests and 8,000 of those people cast their ballots in-person before the election was postponed. He predicts a 20 percent voter turnout compared to the 40 to 45 percent in a typical presidential primary.

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