Early voting lines keep Franklin Co. polls open late

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- While final numbers aren't yet available, the last day of early voting in Franklin County saw record turnout, so much so that polls were still open more than 90 minutes after their 5 p.m. closing time.

Any voter who was in line by that time was allowed to cast their ballot Sunday, the last opportunity voters had to make their voices heard before Election Day this Tuesday.

The county has seen a record number of early voters this year, smashing a record from 2020's presidential election.

Voters spent as long as three hours in line at the Franklin County Board of Elections.

Before polls opened Sunday, more than 122,000 voters in Franklin County and more than 42,000 in Delaware County voted earlier.

The line of hundreds of Franklin County voters spilled out into the parking lot, snaking back and forth along the building.

One group from New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in North Linden turned the last day of early voting into an outreach opportunity.

Adam Troy, the church's director of outreach, said the congregation's Souls to the Polls mission was to get more people to be involved with their government, and he thinks it worked.

"It is got to be more than 1,000-plus people who are in line and so what's happening is that people just didn't wake up today to do that," he said. "Organizations like ours have been working for the past eight weeks now calling folks, encouraging people, making sure that even on the faith-based side, that we keep our doors open to make sure people have appropriate information and know where they can come in and vote."