COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state's chief elections official, held a press conference Tuesday regarding the state of the 2020 general election in Ohio.
The state has seen record numbers of early voters and could see its highest turnout percentage in decades. Several social distancing and other safety measures have been in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and hundreds of thousands of residents chose to cast their ballots by mail this year after filling out absentee applications.
"Ohioans have refused to listen to the fear mongers who have spent months trying to convince them that it's hard to vote - they're proving it's easy with every record broken," LaRose said days ago. "As ballots mailed on time continue to come in over the next ten days, Ohioans should rest assured that each legally cast ballot will be counted and their voice will be heard."
LaRose has taken some criticism during this election season, particularly from Democratic-leaning groups who ripped the Republican's decision to limit the amount of ballot drop boxes in Ohio counties. However, LaRose is confident everyone's vote will be counted, and quickly.
“In Ohio, we can begin processing those absentee ballots as soon as they come in," he told Jasmine Monroe last week. "Contrast that to states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin where they can’t even start cutting open the envelopes until election day."
3News will streamed the press conference live. You can watch it again in the player below:
