CLEVELAND — With just a short time left to vote in Ohio, the state’s two top political leaders are weighing in on turnout so far on election day.
Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party David Pepper says he is encouraged by current turnout, especially after a record 3.4 million people cast their ballots early. Turnout in Democratic stronghold Cuyahoga County sat at just 66% as of 6 p.m. Tuesday (still below 2016's 69% figure), but Pepper believes those numbers could rise late as people get through long lines.
"We’re seeing steady voting," Pepper told 3News. "In some places, quite crowded, in Cuyahoga County, but in some other places not so much because people voted early."
Republican Party Chairwoman and Stark County native Jane Timken, however, says she is also confident with their position heading into the final hours. President Trump won Ohio by eight points over Hillary Clinton in 2016, but recent polls have shown the incumbent neck-and-neck with challenger Joe Biden.
"I think it’s going well," Timken said. "Obviously, we had a lot of absentee and in-person voting. We liked where we were going into election day. I’m encouraging every voter who hasn’t voted yet to get out and vote."
No one has won the presidency without also winning the state of Ohio since John F. Kennedy in 1960, and Trump's margin four years ago was the largest for any candidate in the Buckeye State since George H. W. Bush's landslide victory over Michael Dukakis in 1988. Both sides say once the polls close tonight, they will be watching the results as they come in very closely.
