What the numbers say
Early votes by days before Election Day
Cumulative statewide totals. 2026 in bold; prior cycles aligned to the same days-out. Dots = dated official or SOS-cited figures only (no interpolation; lines just connect reported points). Hollow dots = rounded figures in the source.
2026 reports so far
Each bar is one dated statewide figure (early in-person + mail returned). The Ohio SOS posts a voter-level absentee file that updates regularly, alongside press releases and a dashboard; gaps between bars are days this tracker has no captured statewide figure for.
Who has voted (party of last primary)
Ohio has no party registration. "Party" here = the party ballot a voter last chose in a partisan primary; everyone else is unaffiliated. This is not a vote count and not a party registration.
Party of last primary, day by day (2026)
How voters are voting early: in person vs. by mail
Same-point comparisons where both numbers are sourced. Ohio has shifted sharply from mail to in-person early voting.
County voter files: partial-county aggregate 3 COUNTIES ONLY
Early ballots cast by day (cumulative), 2026
Party of last primary, ballots cast so far
Cuyahoga only: early ballots cast by days out vs past cycles
Rebuilt from Cuyahoga's per-voter return dates. Past cycles undercount: today's files for 2018 and 2022 are roughly 25–30% below those cycles' official Cuyahoga totals, likely because voters later removed from the rolls drop out of the files. Read the past lines as rough shape, not exact levels.
Data coverage & gaps
Sources
Every number traces to a row in ohio-data.csv with its source URL. Days-out = Election Day minus the date the data is "as of" (or the release date when the release gives no as-of date; see each row's note). Early voting began Oct 10, 2018; Oct 12, 2022; Oct 8, 2024; Oct 6, 2026.
Law changes that affect comparisons
Ohio's rules changed after 2022, which helps explain why 2026 shows far more in-person early voting and fewer mail ballots than past years.
- 2023 · House Bill 458 (in effect April 7, 2023): only one ballot drop box per county, at the board of elections; the deadline to request a mail ballot moved up to 7 days before Election Day; mailed ballots had to arrive within 4 days after Election Day (down from 10); and early voting on the Monday before Election Day was eliminated (those hours moved earlier). Photo ID also became required. Ohio SOS · ACLU of Ohio summary
- 2025 · Senate Bill 293 (in effect March 20, 2026): mail ballots must now be received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day; the post-election grace period for postmarked ballots is gone (except military/overseas). 2026 is the first general election under this rule. Legislative Service Commission analysis · Butler County BOE
- So 2018 and 2022 had more drop boxes, later mail deadlines, and the extra Monday; the 2026 "in-person up, mail down" shift partly reflects these rules, not just enthusiasm.