COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose updated voters Tuesday on the work his office has been doing to prepare for the November election.
Nearly 8 million absentee ballot request forms have been mailed to voters across the state so far.
LaRose said the earlier you mail back that request form, the earlier in October you should get your actual absentee ballot.
Meanwhile, his office is currently awaiting approval from the Ohio Controlling Board for permission to use $3 million to ensure return postage is paid for on those absentee ballots.
"It is clearly within the legal purview of the secretary of state to provide postage, so long as I can receive that controlling board authorization," LaRose said.
LaRose also mentioned that because half of all Ohio voters are expected to vote absentee, election night results won't be considered official.
We will have to wait for the official results until all absentee ballots are counted within a week or two.
"We believe every one of those votes deserves to be counted. And they will be counted, as long as they're legally cast," LaRose said.
Additionally, LaRose called for more poll workers, saying the state needs at least 35,000 volunteers working the polls to help with all of the extra health precautions at polling locations.
But he added he still believes the first option for many in Ohio is to simply vote absentee.
"We want to encourage people to vote absentee, we want to make it easy for people to vote absentee, and take away any hesitation or doubt. And this is just a logical continuation of that same policy," LaRose said.
The deadline to register to vote in Ohio is Monday, Oct. 5, so just a little less than a month away.
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