32,095 Ballots Cast in Cuyahoga County, Up From 19,918 in 2022

Cuyahoga County voters had cast 32,095 early in-person ballots as of October 26, topping the final early in-person count of 19,918 recorded in the 2022 midterm election. Cleveland accounted for 8,765 of those ballots, about 2,500 more than the city's final early in-person total in 2022, with six days of early voting left before Election Day on November 3.

In Cleveland's Central neighborhood, Morgan "Mo" Lewis, lead coordinator of the Vote Squad at the nonpartisan nonprofit Cleveland VOTES, has spent recent months canvassing and attending community workshops. At a weekly meeting hosted by Men and Women of Central earlier this month, Lewis asked a group of about two dozen residents how they felt about the approaching midterm election. A response came immediately: "I already voted."

Lewis said some residents continue to hear that voting does not change conditions. "There is still rhetoric being told in our communities that our vote does not matter, and that nothing is really getting better, no matter what, so we have to make those connections," Lewis said. "We have to meet people where they are."

Greater Cleveland Congregations has sent volunteers to doors across several Cleveland neighborhoods and some inner-ring suburbs. Khalilah Worley Billy, a senior organizer with the group, said registered voters are stating their intention to vote more often than in prior cycles. "Going out this time, people are leading with the issues like gas prices and food, and they're connecting that issue to voting," Billy said. "Beforehand, it seemed separate."

On a Sunday afternoon in Cleveland Heights, volunteers Diana Woodbridge and Joel Genuth knocked on nearly two dozen doors. Over about an hour and a half, nearly every household answered, and all but one resident said they would vote. Across Cleveland Heights that day, Greater Cleveland Congregations canvassers reached over 300 doors, with 71 residents responding and 57 committing to vote. Tucker White, who answered his door, named greed as his top concern. "I'm able to afford gas, to afford groceries, but I do worry about what's taking place," White said. "There'll be cuts to Medicaid."

Turnout in Central has trailed the citywide rate. In the 2022 midterm, about 15% of registered voters in Central cast ballots, compared with about 31% citywide. Ward 5, the district that includes Central, has seen its early in-person count double in a 10-day span to 527 ballots, or 3.75% of registered voters, with six days left. The ward's final early in-person count in 2022 was 255 ballots, or 2.03% of registered voters. Ward 5's boundaries shifted after Cleveland City Council downsized, adding parts of Kinsman and Slavic Village along with part of downtown.

Vote Squad member Ariana Menefee pointed to political advertising around the race for Ohio's next governor. "I don't think people realize what's up for grabs right now, or what's up to be cut, or the issues at hand," Menefee said. "And honestly, with everything that's being pushed in our faces, we aren't getting that. We're getting a mudslinging fight."

Tomeka Ewing, who teaches a freshman-level class at Cuyahoga Community College and works as a social worker with seniors on Cleveland's South and East Sides, assigned her students to interview parents and grandparents about voting. She said several returned with questions about stricter Medicaid work requirements set to take effect next year and about the tax increases on the ballot as Issues 10 and 11, which fund the Cuyahoga County Board of Disabilities and Health and Human Services. Her clients have reported reduced or eliminated federal food assistance. "What comes from the heart reaches the heart," Ewing said. "I want to look at you and tell you this, and I want to be able to provide you with the correct information because I done did my research, and I can provide you the evidence of what I've seen."

Early in-person voting continues through November 2, and Election Day is November 3.