Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 17, 2021
CONTACT: press@secure-democracy.org
REPORT: Ohio Rural Voters Depend On Voting Access
Proposed Ohio legislation would restrict rural voters’ freedom to vote, new Secure Democracy report finds
COLUMBUS, OH - Ohio rural voters heavily rely on alternative ways to vote, including voting by mail and in-person early voting, and newly proposed legislation would restrict their ability to cast a ballot, according to a new report by the nonpartisan election policy group Secure Democracy. The report, Ohio’s Forgotten Voters: How Rural Voters in Ohio Support and Depend on Accessible Voting Systems, found that 60 percent of voters living in Ohio rural counties voted by mail or voted early in-person in the 2020 election.
“For too long, the needs of rural voters haven’t been tended to, which is why we wanted to dig deeper into what Ohio’s rural voters need,” said Sarah Walker, executive director of Secure Democracy. “This report should be a warning sign to any Ohio lawmaker who seeks to limit access to the polls by restricting voting by mail or early voting. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents across the state clearly rely on these methods of voting.”
The report provides a glimpse into the demographics and voting preferences of Ohio’s rural counties, and recommends policies to further expand access to all voters. The 17 rural counties analyzed in the report are Adams, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Highland, Holmes, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Paulding, Pike, Preble, Putnam, Vinton, Williams, and Wyandot.
The highlights of the report include:
Demographics of Ohio rural voters: 95% are white; 25% are over the age of 65; half are women; one in five live with a disability; 77% voted for President Trump in 2020.
Voting by mail is increasingly popular in rural counties: Roughly 25% of Ohio rural voters cast a ballot by mail in the 2020 presidential election, compared to 17% in the 2016 election. Some counties with higher percentages of adults with disabilities, such as Pike, Morgan, and Monroe, had mail voting rates exceeding 30 percent.
Rural voters vote early in-person at a higher rate than the state average: Approximately 35% of voters in rural counties cast an early in-person vote in 2020, compared to 22.5% statewide.
Ohioans in rural areas are less likely to be registered to vote than in urban areas: Only 84% of eligible Ohioans are registered to vote in rural counties, compared to 91.5% statewide and 95.7% in urban counties.
New bills introduced in the legislature would restrict rural voters’ freedom to vote: Legislation introduced in the 2021 Ohio legislative session could restrict the availability of drop boxes, make voting by mail more difficult, and cut early voting opportunities, all of which would have an adverse effect on rural voters’ ability to cast their ballot.
Rural voters support efforts to expand voting access: A recent poll conducted by The Tyson Group and Secure Democracy found self-identified Republicans and rural voters largely support expanding options to vote, including:
75% of rural voters support allowing counties to provide more than one early voting location.
74% of rural voters support enabling counties to provide multiple secure ballot drop off locations.
85% of rural voters support modernizing the voter registration process at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
61% of rural voters support providing a secure online website for voters to request their absentee ballot.
To view the Ohio’s Forgotten Voters report, click here.
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Secure Democracy is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to build confidence in our elections and improve voter access across the United States. We educate policymakers and the public about what it takes to safeguard our voting systems. We use sophisticated survey and messaging research to inform our strategy and we collaborate with state leaders, election administrators, policy experts, and allies to ensure that all eligible citizens have the freedom to vote how they choose.