Hamilton County mail-ballot requests are down roughly one-third compared with the opening of early voting in the 2022 midterm. The county had received 38,856 mail ballot requests as of Monday, Oct. 5, down from 58,182 at the same point before the 2022 midterm, as first reported by Signal Cincinnati on Wednesday.

That is roughly a one-third drop in four years.

The decline mirrors a statewide trend. About 601,277 Ohioans had requested mail ballots as of Oct. 6, a 26% drop from the 812,198 requests at the same point in 2022.

Meanwhile, early in-person voting has surged. Ohioans cast 20,030 early in-person ballots across 56 of the state's 88 counties on Wednesday, more than double the 8,647 cast at the same point four years ago, according to Signal Cincinnati. A Hamilton County-specific count was not available.

Alex Linser, chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, said the opening of a new, larger in-person voting center at the Hamilton County Board of Elections earlier this decade has drawn voters away from mail ballots. He told Signal Cincinnati that President Trump's directive to the U.S. Postal Service to screen ballot envelopes against eligible voter lists added to those concerns.

"A lot of people have concerns about voting by mail," Linser said. "So I think we're going to see less participation in that form because of the president's behavior."

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked those postal screening regulations from taking effect this year after voting-rights groups challenged them.

Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, said voters have contacted her organization on social media and by email worried about whether their ballots would arrive. She encouraged voters who are concerned to deliver their ballot directly to their county board of elections office or drop box.

The shift has been building. Since 2023, most early votes in Ohio have been cast in person rather than by mail. In the May 2026 primary, 62% of early votes were in person. Aaron Ockerman, executive director of the Ohio Association of Election Officials, told Signal Cincinnati that election officials across the state have raised concerns the shift could lead to longer in-person lines.

As we reported Tuesday, early in-person voting began Oct. 6 at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, 4700 Smith Road. The deadline to request a mail ballot is 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27. A new state law eliminated the grace period for late-arriving mail ballots, so all mail ballots must reach the Board of Elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3.