Nov. 5--With a hotly contested casino issue and two other statewide issues on Tuesday's ballot, more than 40 percent of registered Ohio voters cast ballots, unofficial results show.

That's up from 31 percent in the previous off-year election in 2007, when only local issues and races were on the ballot, and it matched the 40 percent voter participation in 2005.

The highest turnout in off-year elections in recent years was 46 percent in 1997. Turnout generally is lighter in odd-year elections, when there are no statewide races. Turnout for the 2008 presidential election in Ohio was 70 percent, for example.

Paulding and Shelby counties had the highest turnouts Tuesday: 57 percent and 56.6 percent, respectively. Athens County's turnout was the lowest at 25.2 percent, followed by Franklin County's at 30.7 percent.

The vote totals are unofficial, and 62,415 absentee ballots statewide were cast late and have yet to be counted, according to the secretary of state's office.

Also, 59,351 provisional ballots were cast and will be counted in 10 days, after election workers verify the voters' eligibility.

Elections officials reported the usual Election Day glitches with voting equipment and poll workers Tuesday. The most serious problems appeared to be in Summit County, where officials underestimated turnout, and some precincts ran out of ballots.

Responding to concerns about the H1N1 flu circulating, some counties took precautions to help prevent the spread of germs among voters and poll workers.

Union County, for example, sent a bottle of hand sanitizer with the usual election supplies to each precinct for poll workers and voters to use, Elections Director Karen Murphy said.

Franklin County did not provide sanitizers but reminded all poll workers in a letter to wash their hands frequently.

At one precinct in Pataskala in Licking County, poll workers were wiping down pens after voters signed the poll book.

mniquette@dispatch.com

--public-affairs reporter Alan Johnson talked to ONN-TV about the state's plans to create a livestock-care standards board, a step mandated by the passage of Issue 2 Tuesday. To watch the interview, go to ONNTV.com.

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