| OHIO | 18 Electoral Votes |
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| Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Ohio Secretary of State
Largest counties (27 are 100,000 plus): Franklin, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Summit, Montgomery. Largest cities (100,000-plus): Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, Dayton. Government
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State of Ohio Secretary of State OH Democratic
Party Columbus Dispatch  The Buckeye
State
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Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 5, 2020. Absentee ballots mailed: beginning Oct. 6, 2020. Vote early in person: Oct. 6-Nov. 2, 2020. Absentee Ballot Litigation Domestic absentee ballots cast by mail (or drpped off at BOEs): 2,144,504 Domestic absentee ballots requested and cast in person: 1,345,625 Total number of domestic absentee balots counted (by mail and in person): 3,481,225 |
Ballot Access for Independent Candidates |
Overview:
Ohio
leaned Republican, but it was considered a battleground
state, and polling showed a close race. After a
late flurry of activity, Trump-Pence carried the Buckeye
State by almost the same margin as in 2016, winning with
a plurality of 475,669 votes (8.03 percentage
points). The Republican ticket carried 81 counties
to seven for Biden. Turnout, at
73.99% of registered voters, was the highest since
1992. Signaling Ohio's importance, President Trump held his first rally of 2020 on Jan. 9 in Toledo. By March the pandemic struck, forcing an extension of the primary and putting a damper on activity. A highlight or lowlight of the Fall campaign was the first presidential debate in Cleveland on Sept. 29. The Trump campaign closed with a fair number of visits in the latter part of October, while on the Democratic side Joe Biden made a late visit to Cleveland, on Nov. 2. Ohio saw modest spending on presidential advertising, but nowhere near the level of the most competitive states. General Election Details Trump | Biden [OHSOS] BALLOT [PDF] |
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| Democrats Biden 647,284 (72.37%), Sanders 149,683 (16.73%)... Total 894,383. details 153 Delegates: 89 District, 29 At-Large, 19 PLEO and 17 Unpledged. |
Republicans Trump 713,546 votes (100%) ...only choice on the ballot. |
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| 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 |
| Clinton 40.18% |
Clinton 47.38% |
Bush 49.99% |
Bush 50.81% |
Obama 51.50% |
Obama 50.67% |
Trump 51.69% |
and the details...
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| Voting Eligible
Population*:
8,737,173. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 62.9%. Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 18, 2016. Early In-Person Absentee Voting: Oct. 19 - Nov. 7, 2016. > |
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Overview:
Republicans
signaled Ohio's importance by holding their Convention
in Cleveland. Ohio was indeed a battleground
state, drawing visits from candidates and a barrage of
TV ads. There was one very awkward fact for the Trump campaign: the state's Republican Gov. John Kasich declined to endorse Trump. The extent of the rift became apparent when Trump state director Robert Paduchik penned an Oct. 15 letter to members of the Ohio Republican Party state central committee declaring that party chairman Matt Borges, who is close to Kasich, "does not represent or speak for the candidate and he no longer has any affiliation with the Trump-Pence campaign." [PDF] Meanwhile, there were signs that the Clinton campaign was effectively conceding the state, although not giving up entirely. After her Labor Day rally with Tim Kaine in Cleveland, where Clinton suffered a serious coughing fit, she did not visit the state again until Oct. 3. Instead, visits by Kaine, Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton filled the gap. Kaine spent significantly less time in the state as well. The closing week had a handful of visits, but was not filled as in other battleground states. If the U.S. Senate campaign had proved more competitive there might have been synergies that would have led the Clinton campaign to go all in. When the votes were tallied Trump had the strongest showing since George H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis by almost 11 percentage points in 1988. Trump carried 80 counties to eight for Clinton, finishing with a plurality of 446,841 votes (8.13 percentage points), General Election Visits Clinton | Trump BALLOT [PDF] See also: Michael Curtin and Joe Hallett. Aug. 2015. Ohio Politics Almanac, Third Ed. Revised and Updated. Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press. |
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| Voting Eligible
Population*:
8,644,958. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 64.6%. Voter Registration Deadline: October 9, 2012. Early In-Person Absentee Voting: October 2 - November 5, 2012. |
Total votes cast: 5,632,423. |
2012
Overview Ohio, the quintessential battleground state, went to Obama-Biden by 166,214 votes (2.98 percentage points). 127,528 fewer votes were tallied in the presidential race than in 2008. The Republican ticket carried 71 counties to 17 for the Democrats. General Election Details Obama | Romney BALLOT [PDF] |
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| Voting Eligible Population*: 8,541,239. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 66.7%. About 30% voted absentee: 1,744,753 absentee ballots were issued, of which 1,717,256 (98.4%) were counted...these included over 214,000 voters who voted in person by absentee from Sept. 30-Oct. 24. 206,859 provisional ballots were issued, of which 166,870 (80.7%) were counted. Total Registration: 8,287,665 |
Total votes cast: 5,775,369. |
2008
Overview After an intense campaign, Obama-Biden prevailed in battleground Ohio by 262,224 votes (4.59 percentage points). The Republican ticket carried 66 counties to 22 for the Democrats. General Election Details Obama/Allies | McCain/Allies | Nader |
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| Voting Eligible Population*: 8,427,696. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 66.8%. Total Registration: 7,979,630. Voter registration deadline for the November general election was October 4, 2004. |
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2004 Overview Because of its importance to both campaigns, the Ohio was seen as the Florida of 2004, a must-win state. The candidates made frequent visits, and their allies poured in resources. Intense legal activity in the weeks leading up to Election Day suggested the possibility of Florida-type post-election debacle. The focus led to high turnout; 925,910 more votes were cast in the race for president than in 2000. Although the Kerry campaign held out thin hopes for Ohio as Election Night segued into the morning after, on the afternoon of November 3 Kerry conceded. Nonethess legal activity continued into the post-election period, a recount of sorts occurred, and investigations were begun. Final results following the recount put Bush's plurality at 118,601 votes (2.10 percentage points); the Republican ticket carried 72 counties to 16 for Kerry-Edwards. General Election Details | Photos Kerry/Allies | Bush-Cheney '04 |
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| Voting Eligible Population*: 8,295,592. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 56.7%. Total Registration: 7,535,188. |
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2000 Overview This bellweather battleground state which had gone to Clinton-Gore in 1996, returned to the Republican column. Bush won with a plurality of 166,735 votes (3.55 percentage points) and carried 72 counties to 16 for Gore. Historic Maps. General Election Activities |
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