The low turnout during early voting in Franklin County reflects that it’s an off-year election.
Just 18,501 people, 2% of registered voters in Franklin County, voted early in-person at the Franklin County Board of Elections through Nov. 2, the last day to do so. Compare that to the over 127,000 Franklin county residents who voted early in 2024, a presidential election year.
The Franklin County Board of Elections sent 19,890 absentee ballots for this general election by mail to voters who requested them and so far, 14,900 ballots have been mailed back. That brings the turnout for Franklin County registered voters so far this election to about 3.8%.
Franklin County voters, as seen here, came out in droves in 2024 to vote early. In 2025, an off-year election, about 18,500 Franklin County residents voted early.
Voters still have the opportunity to vote on Election Day, Nov. 4, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at their polling locations.
All Franklin County voters have something to weigh in on this year with two county-wide levies on the ballot: the Franklin County Alcohol, Drug and Mental (ADAMH) levy and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium levy.
In Columbus, there’s a $1.9 billion bond package spread across five issues and a city council race. Voters in the Columbus City Schools district will elect three new school board members.
In many suburbs, there are hotly contested local races, like the South Western City school board race.
Learn more in our voter guide: Meet the candidates on your ballot for the 2025 general election
Early on during early voting, Westerville voters made up about 20% of the turnout, said Aaron Sellers, a spokesperson for the county Board of Elections. That could be due to Westerville’s proximity to the Board of Elections building on Columbus’ Northeast Side, or it could reflect interest in the 0.75% income tax levy on the ballot for Westerville schools. The Westerville school board has already approved about $20 million in budget cuts if this latest levy fails.
How many people in Franklin County are likely to vote this year?
In 2024, over 67% of registered Franklin County voters cast a ballot, but that was a year with a hotly contested presidential election and a Senate race in Ohio.
The last off-year election, meaning there was no presidential race or Congressional races, was 2023. In 2023, about 48% of registered county voters cast a ballot. But that year also had hotly contested statewide ballot issues on reproductive freedom and recreational marijuana legalization.
In 2021, the off-year election before that and perhaps most similar to the 2025 election in terms of hype, under 24% of registered Franklin County voters cast a ballot.
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County early voter turnout was low ahead of Election Day 2025
