Polls are open across Ohio from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8 for primary elections. This is expected to be a higher than normal turnout for the mid-term election cycle led in Ohio by statewide races for the U.S. Senate and for the first time in 12 years an open seat for governor that has prompted competitive primaries on both sides of the aisle.
Ohio Issue 1—the statewide ballot question that seeks to change the way the state's congressional districts are drawn in an effort to end gerrymandering,— is expected to draw a large number of people to the polls.
That's something that could impact the Republican and Democrat primaries bringing the state's largest block of voters, independents to the polls
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"Between the fact that you have independents interested in this issue and I think you'll see some independents also pull a party ballot because we've got a lot of contested races all of that combined means that we'll see a higher percentage of independents jumping in," said News 5 Political Analyst Dr. Tom Sutton.
In Cuyahoga County, they're projecting turnout to be in the 25-30 percent range based on the early vote, which the county's Board of Elections expects to be about a third of the day's vote. As a result, when the polls close the first wave of votes released around 8 p.m. it will give a good indication of how the night will go for those running.
