COLUMBUS – As Ohio responded to the Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak, Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton ordered in-person polling locations closed on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. As a result, the Ohio General Assembly extended the 2020 Ohio primary election until Tuesday, April 28, 2020. and converted to a vote-by-mail election. Today, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced that 1,254,377 Ohioans have requested a vote-by-mail ballot for the Ohio primary election. 712,048 voters have already cast their ballot.

“It is absolutely crucial that Ohioans get their vote-by-mail requests in right away so there is enough time for county boards of elections to process applications and the postal service to deliver the ballots,” said LaRose. “This is an unprecedented situation, and thanks to our tireless, bipartisan election officials and over 130 partners across Ohio, we’re doing everything in our power to provide voters their opportunity to be heard. Voters need to go to VoteOhio.gov so they can utilize that opportunity and get their ballot request in today.”

Ballots must be post-marked by April 27 or submitted directly to the voter’s respective county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on April 28.

Data was collected by the Ohio Secretary of State’s office via a survey of Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections. Data as of close of business on April 10, 2020 includes the following:

• 1,254,377 absentee ballots have been requested. Ballots requested by mail totaled 988,800 with 265,577 requested in person. A total of 712,048 absentee ballots cast with 446,471 ballots cast by mail. There are 542,329 outstanding absentee ballots.

In Shelby County, 4,617 ba;;ots were reqested with 4,277 absentee ballots cast. There are 340 outstanding ballots which haven’t been returned to the Shelby County Board of Election as of Tuesday.

In Auglaize County, 4,121 absentee ballots have been requested thus far, with 2,415 ballots cast. There are 1,706 outstanding ballots which haven’t been returned to the Auglaize County Board of Elections.

In Darke County, voters have requested 4,407 absentee ballots. They have cast 2,112 ballots. There are 2,295 outstanding ballots which haven’t been returned to the Darke County Board of Elections.

In Logan County, 5,047 absentee ballots were sent to registered voters who had requested them.

A total of 3,407 have been cast. There are 1,640 outstanding ballots which haven’t been returned to the Logan County Board of Elections.