COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio could see record-breaking turnout for the November 2024 election.
After a month of early voting and waiting hours in line to cast a ballot, Election Day is nearly here.
Earle Render and his daughter Patricia voted at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections on Sunday.
"I brought a chair so I could sit down, or my daughter could sit down, so we could relax a little bit while we stood in line to vote," Render said.
Waiting outside for three hours wasn’t a problem for the pair.
"That’s a good thing — that’s what we are supposed to do," he said. "We’re supposed to come out to vote."
Sec. of State Frank LaRose said voters like them have led to possible historic turnout.
"With 2.5 million people already participating in early voting, I think we could be on track to beat the all-time record if there's a big turnout on Election Day," LaRose said.
Everything is going smoothly at all 88 boards of election, the secretary continued, touting that Ohio is the gold standard when it comes to security.
"We're going to run an election tomorrow where it is both easy to vote and hard to cheat... If you mess around, you will find out," he said.
Voter fraud is exceedingly rare, but some political candidates, like former President Donald Trump, have been repeating the unsubstantiated rhetoric of fraud.
"What is your next move if a candidate baselessly claims that the election was stolen?" I asked LaRose.
"It is certainly within any candidate's right to challenge the work that public officials do... My job is to run elections so well that the loser knows they lost," he responded.
Ohio hasn’t had any stolen elections, he continued and doesn’t want any shenanigans going on at the polls.
"What we're not going to get into is feeding into somebody's effort to film a viral social media video where they're looking for a conflict, right?" the secretary said.
There are over 3,000 polling locations, so he reiterated to make sure you check yours online before you go out to vote.
"You have that right," Render said. "Vote, vote, vote."
Election results should start coming down at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
With the 2024 general election underway, we created a guide on everything you need to know about voting on or before Nov. 5.
RELATED: 2024 OHIO VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know
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