Cuyahoga County voters turned out at the highest rate for a midterm election in more than three decades, with about 55% of registered voters casting ballots on Nov. 3.

That's a sharp jump from 2022, when just 47% of the county's registered voters participated, according to WKYC. The figure could climb further. Mike West of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections said roughly 10,000 provisional ballots remain to be counted, which could push turnout to about 56%.

Strongsville and North Royalton fall within Cuyahoga County Council District 5, according to Signal Cleveland. Municipality-level turnout figures have not been released.

All results are unofficial. The Ohio Secretary of State's office said the official canvass is completed about three weeks after the election, with certified results to follow.

Statewide picture

Ohio as a whole posted about 58% turnout, the highest for a midterm since 1990, according to unofficial numbers from the secretary of state's office. That compares with about 52% in 2022 and nearly 56% in 2018, WKYC reported. At least 4.6 million Ohioans voted, Signal Ohio reported, the highest raw number ever in a midterm.

Early voting surged, mail ballots dipped

One of the biggest shifts was how voters cast their ballots. About 54,000 Cuyahoga County residents voted early in person, compared with about 20,000 in 2022, Fox 8 reported. That was a record for early in-person voting in the county.

West said the county also saw fewer vote-by-mail ballots than expected, according to WKYC.

"Overall, it seemed like people might have just shifted their voting method," West said, according to WKYC.

West said constant political messaging leading up to Election Day may have kept the election on voters' minds.

"I'm sure everybody, you know, complained about how many political ads they were getting on their phones, on their TVs, text messages. It seemed there was no escape," he said, according to WKYC.

No major problems reported

West told Fox 8 there were no major problems at the polls. He said the board's late predictions had projected turnout in the mid-50s, and the results matched expectations.

The provisional ballot count and the official canvass will determine the county's final turnout number in the weeks ahead.