ASHLAND — Just over 53 percent of registered voters in Ashland County voted in yesterday’s elections, falling short of 2018’s record midterm turnout by three tenths of a percent.
On Tuesday, 53.34% of registered voters cast 18,509 votes, compared to 53.65% of voters casting 19,073 votes in 2018’s midterms.
Shannon Johnson, the director of the Ashland County Board of Elections, thought that voter turnout would surpass 2018’s levels, she said.
“I had anticipated (voter turnout) a little higher due to many different facts. One, the current climate. Two, I saw a lot of ads on TV and number three we had a strong local candidate,” Johnson said.
There are at least 300 provisional ballots and an unknown amount of absentee ballots that still need to be counted which could move Tuesday’s turnout beyond 2018’s, Johnson said.
Ashland had the third-highest turnout of its neighboring counties. The highest turnout was in Medina County with 59.4 percent, followed by Knox County with 53.85 percent.
Before 2018’s record setting election, midterm turnout in Ashland ranged from 40 to 50 percent. Johnson said she believes that the high turnout of 2018 and 2022 will continue into future midterms.
“I just think that with this climate and what’s going on in the nation, I think people in general are more interested and that will continue,” she said.
