Tornado Watch issued April 3 at 12:10AM EDT until April 3 at 4:00AM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)
TORNADO WATCH 103 REMAINS VALID UNTIL 4 AM EDT EARLY THIS MORNING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS
IN INDIANA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 8 COUNTIES
IN EAST CENTRAL INDIANA
FAYETTE UNION WAYNE
IN SOUTHEAST INDIANA
DEARBORN FRANKLIN OHIO RIPLEY SWITZERLAND
IN KENTUCKY THIS WATCH INCLUDES 9 COUNTIES
IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY
BOONE BRACKEN CAMPBELL CARROLL GALLATIN GRANT KENTON OWEN PENDLETON
IN OHIO THIS WATCH INCLUDES 27 COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL OHIO
DELAWARE FAIRFIELD FAYETTE FRANKLIN LICKING MADISON PICKAWAY UNION
IN SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO
HIGHLAND
IN SOUTHWEST OHIO
BROWN BUTLER CLERMONT CLINTON HAMILTON WARREN
IN WEST CENTRAL OHIO
AUGLAIZE CHAMPAIGN CLARK DARKE GREENE HARDIN LOGAN MERCER MIAMI MONTGOMERY PREBLE SHELBY
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ABERDEEN, ADA, ALEXANDRIA, AUGUSTA, AURORA, BATESVILLE, BEAVERCREEK, BELLEFONTAINE, BELLEVUE, BLANCHESTER, BRIGHT, BROOKSVILLE, BROOKVILLE, BURLINGTON, BUTLER, CAMDEN, CARROLLTON, CELINA, CIRCLEVILLE, COLDWATER, CONNERSVILLE, COVINGTON, CRITTENDEN, DAY HEIGHTS, DAYTON, DELAWARE, DILLSBORO, DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI, DOWNTOWN COLUMBUS, DOWNTOWN DAYTON, DRY RIDGE, EATON, ERLANGER, FAIRBORN, FAIRFIELD, FALMOUTH, FLORENCE, FORT THOMAS, FRANKLIN, GEORGETOWN, GREENDALE, GREENFIELD, GREENVILLE, HAMILTON, HIDDEN VALLEY, HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, HILLSBORO, INDEPENDENCE, KENTON, KETTERING, LANCASTER, LANDEN, LAWRENCEBURG, LEBANON, LIBERTY, LONDON, MARYSVILLE, MASON, MIDDLETOWN, MILAN, MILFORD, MINSTER, MOUNT CARMEL, MOUNT ORAB, MOUNT REPOSE, MULBERRY, NEW BREMEN, NEWARK, NEWPORT, OAKBROOK, OSGOOD, OWENTON, OXFORD, PICKERINGTON, PIQUA, PLAIN CITY, RICHMOND, RIPLEY, RISING SUN, SIDNEY, SPRINGBORO, SPRINGFIELD, ST. MARYS, SUMMERSIDE, TIPP CITY, TROY, URBANA, VERSAILLES, VEVAY, WAPAKONETA, WARSAW, WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, WEST COLLEGE CORNER, WEST JEFFERSON, WILLIAMSTOWN, WILMINGTON, WITHAMSVILLE, AND XENIA.
Flood Watch issued April 2 at 9:21PM EDT until April 6 at 8:00AM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)
* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.
* WHERE...The following counties, in Indiana, Dearborn, Fayette, Franklin, Ohio, Ripley, Switzerland, Union and Wayne, the following counties, in Kentucky, Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Lewis, Mason, Owen, Pendleton and Robertson, and the following counties, in Ohio, Adams, Auglaize, Brown, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Darke, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Highland, Hocking, Licking, Logan, Madison, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Pickaway, Pike, Preble, Ross, Scioto, Shelby, Union and Warren.
* WHEN...Through Sunday morning.
* IMPACTS...Soils remain moist and excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Multiple rounds of rain will occur into the weekend with the heaviest rain expect Thursday night into Friday morning and then again Saturday into Saturday night.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued April 3 at 12:23AM EDT until April 3 at 1:15AM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)
SVRILN
The National Weather Service in Wilmington has issued a
* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Northeastern Logan County in west central Ohio... Northwestern Union County in central Ohio... Hardin County in west central Ohio... Northeastern Auglaize County in west central Ohio...
* Until 115 AM EDT.
* At 1222 AM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Lakeview, moving northeast at 60 mph.
HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Expect damage to trees and power lines.
* Locations impacted include... Dola, Huntsville, Rushsylvania, Huntersville, Ridgeway, Pfeiffer, Mount Victory, Big Springs, State Route 195 at State Route 235, Roundhead, Grant, Kenton, Silver Creek, Belle Center, Jumbo, Patterson, Waynesfield, Walton, Blanchard, and Alger.
57° 57° chance Thu 68° Thu 68° chance 49° 49° Fri 57° Fri 57° likely
Friday, October 30th, 2020

Early voting continues

Election officials say local voter turnout nearing 50%

By Daily Standard Staff
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard

Rachel Morris reads through the ballot while voting on Tuesday in the 2020 general election at the Mercer County Courthouse in Celina.

By WILLIAM KINCAID and SYDNEY ALBERT
newsroom@dailystandard.com
With just a few days to go until Election Day, turnout among registered voters in Mercer and Auglaize counties is nearing 50%, elections officials said.
The Mercer County early voting site in the courthouse auditorium on Thursday afternoon was abuzz with voters looking to cast their ballots ahead of Tuesday's presidential election. The site this week has averaged about 500 voters a day, board of elections director Deb Sneddon said.
"I would think that people are participating in this election more than they have any other election in my lifetime," Sneddon said.
As of Thursday afternoon, 12,860 absentee ballots had been cast in-person or by mail, deputy director Kristi Rable pointed out. The county should come close to posting 50% turnout by Election Day. The county has 29,410 registered voters.
"For four weeks we've been here every day, having voters come in," Sneddon said.
Since 1996, Mercer County's highest voter turnout for a presidential election occurred in the 2008 contest that pitted Barack Obama against John McCain. The turnout that election was 78.83%, per statistics provided by board of elections chairwoman Toni Slusser.
The second highest turnout was recorded in 2016 when Donald Trump faced off against Hillary Clinton. The rate was 76.6%. The lowest turnout of 68.14% came in 2004 election between George W. Bush and John Kerry.
As of Thursday afternoon, nearly 40% of the roughly 32,500 registered voters in Auglaize County had already cast their votes. Michelle Wilcox, director of that county's board of elections, said 12,438 people had voted either through mail-in ballots or in-person early voting. That's more than double the 6,122 absentee votes the county received in the 2016 presidential election.
Wilcox had predicted about 10,000 people would utilize early voting options, but that number has been surpassed. She said she expected to reach 13,000 votes cast by the end of Friday or on Saturday.
Total voter turnout is expected to be high this election, Wilcox said, even higher than the county's 76% voter turnout from the 2016 presidential election. For context, voter turnout in the range of 85% for a presidential election is considered high, according to Wilcox.
Even so, Election Day in Auglaize may not be overly busy. With 40% of possible ballots already cast, Wilcox expected maybe another 40% of voters to show up on Tuesday. She expected the smaller crowds would be great for poll workers and voters alike with no long lines and plenty of room to socially distance.
Early in-person voting continues in Mercer and Auglaize counties until 7 p.m. tonight, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday.
Requests to vote by mail must be in writing and received by the board no later than noon Saturday. Applications are available on boards of elections' websites.
Absentee ballots returned by U.S. Mail must be postmarked no later than Nov. 2 and received by boards of elections by Nov. 13 to be counted.
Ohio voters can cast absentee ballots by mail or in person before Election Day without giving a reason.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard

Mercer County continues to see high early voting numbers for the 2020 general election.

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