CLEVELAND — In Cuyahoga County, 52,000 people have asked for mail-in ballots, a massive jump from just 196 requests at this time four years ago, board of elections stats show.
A 3News review found 28,000 requests came from Democrats, about 15 percent of the party's registered voters.
About 3,100 Republican voters, or about 4.5 percent of its registered base, requested ballots.
About 20,000 independent voters requested ballots, or about 3.3 percent of registered voters not affiliated with either party.
The Cincinnati Enquirer published a story Thursday showing similar trends elsewhere, including in Hamilton County, home to Cincinnati, where more than 40 times as many people have requested ballots than at this time four years ago.
David Pepper, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, says the party is pushing early voting more this year than in previous campaigns because of the pandemic, which has created concerns for voter and poll worker safety on Election Day.
“We will be sending reminders; we will be calling,” Pepper said. “So, we are going to run the most robust voter education campaign we’ve ever seen.”
Pepper said the campaign is also pushing a message of protecting voter rights in light of President Trump’s attacks on early voting and concerns that that changes at the U.S Postal Service could delay the delivery of ballot applications and ballots on Election Day.
“More than most campaigns, this isn’t just going to be get out the vote, but protect the vote,” he said. “In the final month, every single day is a campaign to get people to put their vote in the mail or a drop box. It will be a non-stop push. Our best advice is vote early and drop it off at an elections board.”
The Republican Party also stresses early voting, though the president’s comments that mail-in voting is ripe for fraud has muddled its message. Ohio Republican Party spokesman Evan Machan told 3News the GOP is not concerned about the Democrat’s early numbers because the GOP requests are on par with its previous winning elections.
The Secretary of State is planning to mail every registered voter an application for absentee ballot around Labor Day. And both parties are offering voters applications as well. Elections officials expect to see a surge in requests next month.