More than 30% of registered Washington County voters have turned out early to vote in the 2024 general election in person or through the mail.

Early voting started in Ohio on Oct.8 and as of Thursday 35% of Washington County voters have participated in early voting either in person at the Board of Elections Office or by mail by absentee ballot, according to Washington County Board of Elections Director Mandi Amos.

This amount of early voter turnout is maybe a little higher than it was for the 2020 general election, she said.

“In just the office we’re close to 11,000” people coming to vote as of Thursday, according to Amos.

She said the exact number of people who have visited the Board of Elections Office to vote as of around noon Thursday was 10,868.

Amos said she believed the number of people that will end up voting early at the Board of Elections Office will be higher than it was for the 2020 general elections, which was 12,000 people.

She also expects the number of people that vote at polling places on election day will be equal to or a little more than the number of people who did so in the 2020 general election, which was 10,000.

She thinks people are showing up to vote early at the office because “it’s just easy” and “it’s convenient for them.”

Washington County voters still have a few days of early voting left. Amos said early voting at the Board of Elections Office will be 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. today, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

“Sunday is our last day for early voting,” she said.

After Sunday voters will have to vote at their polling place on election day, Amos said.

There has been a rumor that some people plan on voting twice in Washington County, according to Amos.

She said the Board of Elections heard a rumor that some people who voted early at the board’s office then plan to show up to their polling place on election day to try to see if they are listed as someone who has already voted.

Amos thinks the reason for this is “just that they’re concerned about the election process” and people want to make sure the process is working properly.

She said people don’t have to come to the Board of Elections Office to find out if records show they voted early.

Voters can go to https://www.boe.ohio.gov/washington/ and click on “Am I Registered to Vote” and look themselves up, according to Amos, and it will pull up their voter registration status and voting history.

While there will be no voting at the Board of Elections Office on Nov. 4 or Nov. 5, voters can find out their polling location if they stop by the office, call on the phone or through the Board of Elections website, Amos said.