First polls Close in off-year election watched for hints about 2024
MATT ROURKE / AP
Voters step from booths after casting their ballots on election day in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Polls have closed in Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, three of several states holding off-year elections that will affect abortion access and shape the national debate about it and that could offer hints of the political environment heading into next year’s presidential race.
Both parties are anxiously watching the outcomes as bellwethers of how their messages on abortion, the economy and the Biden administration may be received in 2024.
The polls remain open elsewhere, and while results are expected to begin arriving in relatively short order, race calls will not be immediate.
Here’s a look at what is happening and what to expect:
>> The most prominent contests are in Kentucky, where Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, is seeking a second term against Daniel Cameron, the state’s Republican attorney general; Mississippi, where Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, is being challenged by Brandon Presley, a Democratic public service commissioner; Ohio, where voters will decide whether to enshrine the right to abortion in the state Constitution and whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use; and Virginia, where Republicans are seeking full control of the Legislature and could enact new abortion restrictions if they get it.
>> Few definitive turnout numbers were available, but there was a steady flow of voters at many polling places throughout the day. In suburban Clermont County, Ohio, east of Cincinnati, officials said it could hit 50%, significantly higher than in the last off-year election in 2021. In Kentucky, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office said the state appeared to be on track for 40% to 45% turnout.
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>> Voting appeared to go smoothly in most places, but some snags were reported: In Northampton County, Pennsylvania, machines incorrectly recorded some votes, and election officials had to help voters with workarounds as they addressed the problem. In Jefferson County, Kentucky, voters were unable to sign their names on electronic registration tablets at 17 precincts.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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