LISBON — Columbiana County Board of Elections Director Kim Fusco said she’s expecting a record number of in-office early voters and an overall voter turnout of 75 to 78 percent for the Nov. 5 presidential election.

“Maybe even higher,” she said.

In the 2020 presidential election, 76 percent of the county’s registered voters cast ballots. The number in 2016 was 71.65 percent.

As for in-office early voter numbers, Fusco said the record from the 2020 fall election has already been surpassed and there’s still two days to go. The election in March 2020 saw 901 in-office early voters. For the November 2020 election, the number exploded to 9,198.

As of Friday afternoon, the number of in-office early voters stood at 10,178 and was steadily rising. Fusco predicted the number could rise to as high as 13,000 voters by the end of Sunday, which is the last day to vote early at the county Board of Elections office at 7989 Dickey Drive, Lisbon. The schedule is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

“This is by far the biggest one yet,” Fusco said.

As of Friday afternoon, the total number of absentee ballots cast, which would include mailed, in-office, nursing homes and military/oversees, was 16,014. That’s 25 percent of the registered voters in the county. Fusco also pointed out that the majority of that number came from in-office early voting.

“I’m very happy we have people voting. People are very passionate about voting and they’re looking for changes,” she said.

The availability of early voting is a good thing, she said, reporting there have been no problems. She explained that once everybody saw how safe and secure it was, they started doing it. By voting early in person, the voter doesn’t have to fill out an absentee ballot application. They just show up with their driver’s license.

She credited the extra office workers hired to help with early voting for the fact that it’s working well. She said she’s very proud of them, especially with handling the number of voters that have been showing up.

A dozen extra workers were hired, with four working the counter and one in the lobby to direct voters. She thanked the county commissioners for approving more money for the Board of Elections appropriations to cover the cost of more people. Some of those people hired included both new and former poll workers.

Absentee ballots sent through the mail must be postmarked Nov. 4 or earlier and arrive in the office by Nov. 9. Absentee ballots can be placed in the 24/7 monitored secure dropbox in front of the Board of Elections office in Lisbon or taken inside the office up until 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Election Day.

A reader recently asked whether illegal citizens can vote and according to Fusco, noncitizens are not permitted to vote. According to the photo identification review process issued by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office, driver’s licenses and state IDs include a section on the back that will identify a person as a noncitizen. If the person doesn’t provide a valid photo ID and acceptable proof of citizenship and they insist on voting, they must vote a provisional ballot.

“We don’t have the right to deny anybody the right to vote. If they insist, we get them a ballot,” Fusco said.

But that doesn’t mean their ballot will count. Provisional ballots are ballots where there may be a question over a voter’s registration, address, citizenship or whether they’re voting in the right precinct. Provisional ballots are not counted until 10 days after the election, giving the Board of Elections staff the time to research the voter’s eligibility to vote. They are set aside and reviewed, then the four-member board overseeing the Board of Elections votes whether to accept or reject each individual provisional ballot.

“We follow the Ohio Secretary of State’s procedures and step-by-step rules,” Fusco said.

Citizens who are out of the country but are registered to vote and intend to come back at some point can request and send back an absentee ballot through the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, referred to as UOCAVA. There were 86 absentee ballots requested through UOCAVA for this election, with 46 of those ballots cast and returned to the Board of Elections so far.

For voters who prefer to cast their ballot on Election Day at their local precinct, the polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Just bring a photo ID.

For more information about the elections, to check voter registration or see a sample ballot, visit the Board of Elections website at columbiana.boe.ohio.gov.

The board is scheduled to meet at 10:30 a.m. Monday and again on Election Night on Tuesday. Other meeting dates are 1:30 p.m. Nov. 15 to approve provisional ballots; and 4:30 p.m. Nov. 19 to certify the general election results.