Mail-in ballot requests in Hamilton County have dropped 33% compared to the 2022 midterm, even as early in-person voting surges statewide.

The county received 38,856 mail ballot requests as of Monday, Oct. 5, down from 58,182 at the same point in 2022. Signal Cincinnati first reported the decline.

The decline mirrors a statewide trend. Across Ohio, 601,277 voters had requested mail ballots as of Oct. 6, a 26% drop from the 812,198 requests at the same point in 2022. Requests also trail the 777,683 recorded ahead of the 2018 midterm.

On the first day of early in-person voting Oct. 6, Ohioans cast 20,030 ballots across 56 counties where data was available. That is more than double the 8,647 cast on the first day in 2022.

Sherry Poland, director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, told WLWT that in-person voting is growing locally and the office expects large numbers at its early vote center.

Alex Linser, chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, attributed part of the shift to a newer, larger in-person voting center at the county Board of Elections. Linser, who also serves on the county elections board, said concerns about the U.S. Postal Service add another layer.

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

President Trump directed the Postal Service to build a system screening ballot envelopes against eligible voter lists. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked those regulations from taking effect this year after challenges from voting-rights groups.

Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, said voters have contacted her group on social media and by email with concerns about mail ballot reliability. She urged worried voters to deliver ballots directly to their county drop box or Board of Elections office.

Aaron Ockerman, director of the Ohio Association of Election Officials, said the shift away from mail voting could lead to longer in-person lines, a problem Ohio experienced in the 2000s. He cautioned it is too early to draw firm conclusions.

The trend has been building. Since 2023, most early voting in Ohio has occurred in person rather than by mail, reaching 62% of the early vote in the May 2026 primary. For much of the 2010s, roughly two-thirds of early votes were cast by mail.

A new Ohio law also eliminated the four-day grace period for mail ballots postmarked by Election Day. Mail-in ballots must now arrive at local boards of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3 to be counted, according to the Journal-News.

Hamilton County voters can cast early in-person ballots at the Board of Elections Early Vote Center at 4700 Smith Road in Norwood. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 8:30 P.M. on Oct. 27. Early in-person voting runs through Nov. 1, and Election Day polls are open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3. The Hamilton County Board of Elections meets next on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 8:30 a.m.