COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline)--A record 1.46 million Ohioans cast absentee ballots, according to figures Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner compiled through Oct. 24.
The numbers indicate that more and more people are realizing the convenience of casting an absentee ballot, said Jeff Ortega, spokesman for the secretary of state.
Another 80 percent of the 8.3 million registered Ohio voters are expected to flock to the polls today, Ortega said.
But in Ohio, a battleground state where Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have campaigned for months, critical votes are being scrutinized because of a questionable 200,000 new registrations.
Those registrations include information different than state records.
Ortega said the state is required to allow anyone registered to vote.
And just because information may not match state records does not necessarily indicate voter fraud, Ortega said.
"It's not a litmus test for voter eligibility," he said.
Many of the registration mistakes can be attributed to clerical or typographical errors, Ortega said.
Brunner has been brought to court over registration issues, but has so far prevailed in litigation, Ortega said.