2016 Ohio GOP primary early voting began Wed., Feb 17. Final voting day March 15. Only 10% of Cuyahoga County's 840,662 registered voters are Republican, 70% are independent. In 2012, 40% of Ohio GOP primary total was early voting-News Net 5

Feb. 25, 2016 article:

2/15/16, "Early voting set to begin in Ohio's 2016 primary," newsnet5.com, John Kosich, Cleveland 

"Ohio's March 15 primary may still be a month off but the first votes in that election will actually be cast on Wednesday (Feb. 17). That's when in-person early voting begins at boards of election around the state.

In 2012, roughly 40 percent of voters in that presidential primary voted early.

Many Cuyahoga County voters face a decision beyond who to vote for though--they have to decide if they want to give up their non-partisan voting status to vote as either a Republican or Democrat.

While New Hampshire last week and South Carolina this week are open primary states, meaning independent voters can vote in either primary, in Ohio voters must declare.

So in Cuyahoga County for example registration numbers show roughly 70 percent of the county's 840,662 voters are non-partisan and only 

20 percent are Democrats and 

10 percent Republicans.

In 2008 many of those independent voters declared as Democrats, heading into the election there were 250,159 registered Democrats but there ended up being 361,179 votes cast, a 44 percent jump.

Tuesday (2/16) is the last day to register to vote in the Ohio primary."




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