CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Are you registered to vote?
The registration deadline is 9 p.m. Tuesday night, October 11, in Ohio for the hotly contested and incredibly nasty presidential race, along with the other down-ballot battles.
It was kind of like last-minute Christmas shopping; last-minute voter registration. Tuesday was the deadline to vote November 8, or to vote early in person or by mail starting Wednesday, October 11. Besides voter registration, Election Boards were also processing early voting absentee ballot requests.
In Hamilton County through Monday, about 16,000 Democrats had requested absentee ballots, 26,000+ Republicans, and the largest number, more than 32,000 non-partisan Independents.
So the big question: what do the numbers mean? Can people look at the number of absentee requests and see them as a predictor of how the election will turn out in November? The answer was a big old no. Even though Republicans have the absentee edge so far in Hamlton County, lots of registrations were turned in Tuesday by a pro-Clinton group which focused on college campuses. That was a key demographic for Democrats along with African-American voters.
Vernon Williams of North Fairmount said, “Well, from watching the debate I felt more on Hillary's side. Donald Trump, with all his controversies, he doesn't seem like a person who should be President of the United States.”
And some Republicans may flip to Clinton. Donald Trump was counting on more blue collar voters.
James Jaworek of Deer Park said, “Registered to vote because I want to protect my Second Amendment rights.” When asked if he was a regular voter or just something he now Jaworek responded, “No, just something I did this year.”
Whatever people’s preference, if they’re not registered yet they have until 9 p.m. to do so at the Board of Elections in their county in Ohio. Tuesday was also the registration deadline in Kentucky and Indiana. The Kentucky deadline already passed. Indiana voters can still register online until midnight.
