Turnout for the Nov. 5 election is expected to be high in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, its election directors say, largely because of the presidential race.

The race between former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, is the driving force behind voter enthusiasm in the two counties, they say.

Ahead of Tuesday’s start of early voting, Stephanie Penrose, Trumbull County Board of Elections director, predicted turnout in her county between 74% and 76%.

Tom McCabe, Mahoning County Board of Elections director, said turnout in his county should be between 72% and 74%.

“Turnout will be strong,” McCabe said. “It’s all presidential and the Senate race to a lesser extent. The vast majority of voters are coming out for the presidential election. It will be a very busy election season.”

Penrose said: “We have five countywide issues — if you include TCTC (Trumbull Career and Technical Center). Unfortunately, people don’t turn out for the local stuff and come out big for the presidential election.”

The Trumbull board already has received more than 15,000 requests for mail-in ballots while Mahoning has more than 20,000 requests.

The predicted percentages are close to turnout during the 2020 presidential election.

In 2020, turnout in Trumbull was 74.4% while it was 72.6% in Mahoning.

That was up from the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections in the two counties.

In 2012, turnout was 67.8% in Trumbull and 72.2% in Mahoning.

In 2016, it was 69.7% in Trumbull and 70.8% in Mahoning.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the presidential race with very strong feelings both ways,” Penrose said.

Early voting in both counties will be very busy, Penrose and McCabe said.

“It’s going to be quick to check in, but the bottleneck is at the voting booths,” Penrose said. “It will be easy to check in and to put ballots in the scanners.”

The delay at the voting booths is primarily because state Issue 1 — a proposed constitutional amendment to change who’s in charge of drawing state legislative and congressional districts — takes up an entire page, Penrose said.

“My suggestion is to read up on it before you come to vote,” she said. “Every day of early voting is going to be busy.”

EARLY VOTING

More people are voting early, whether in-person or by mail, McCabe and Penrose said.

The Mahoning County early voting center is at the Oakhill Renaissance Place, 345 Oak Hill Ave., Youngstown. It is in the same building at the board of elections.

Early voting in Trumbull County is at the board of elections, 2947 Youngstown Road SE, Warren.

Early in-person voting is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday as well as Oct. 14 to 18.

It is 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 21 to 25, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 26 and 1 to 5 p.m. Oct. 27.

Early in-person voting on Oct. 28 is 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 29, and 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 to Nov. 1.

It is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 2, the Saturday before Election Day, and 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 3, the Sunday before Election Day. There is no early voting the Monday before Election Day, Nov. 4.

Polling locations on Nov. 5, Election Day, are open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

“I think the trend is going to be early in-person rather than by mail though most of the voting will still be done at the polls,” Penrose said. “People like to get in here early and get their vote cast.”

McCabe said there’s been an increase in early voting in Mahoning and he expects that to continue.

Mahoning County has added more security this year, he said.

An accordion-style gate with a lock was installed at the rear of the early voting center so board employees cannot travel to it from the nearby elections office when the center is closed, McCabe said.

“We added a gate so employees can’t cut through the early voting area,” he said. “It was never a problem, but when we close early voting, employees can’t cut through there. A lot of it is appearance. We’re going to nip it in the bud before it ever becomes an issue. We’ve been doing early voting there for 12 years and we haven’t had an issue. But why let it?”

Also, the board is installing a better camera near its ballot drop box as well as a license plate reader, McCabe said.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, recently issued a directive requiring county boards of elections to get signatures on attestations from those dropping off ballots for others. It requires a person who under state law is permitted to put a ballot in a drop box to sign a document swearing they’re following that law.

VOTER ID

An approved photo identification is needed to vote early in-person and at the polling locations.

To vote those ways, a person needs one of the following: a driver’s license, a state ID card, a passport, a passport card or a military ID.

Those who vote by mail can use either their driver’s license ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.

A state law, which took effect with the May 2023 election, eliminated a number of forms of ID that were previously acceptable. That included bank statements, utility bills, pay stubs, government checks and the last four digits of a person’s Social Security number.

McCabe and Penrose said an overwhelming majority of voters show a photo ID when voting.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE

County election boards in Ohio will remain open until 9 p.m. Monday to allow people to register to vote in the general election. It’s the last day to register for that election for those who aren’t already registered voters.

To register in person, you need either your driver’s license number or the last four digits of your Social Security number.

People also can register online at voteohio.gov, the Ohio secretary of state’s website, by Monday.

Election turnout

Turnout for presidential elections in Mahoning and Trumbull counties

2012

Mahoning: 72.2%

Trumbull: 67.8%

2016

Mahoning: 70.8%

Trumbull: 69.7%

2020

Mahoning: 72.6%

Trumbull: 74.4%

2024 (predicted)

Mahoning: 72-74%

Trumbull: 74-76%