ELECTION NIGHT State Issues : Franklin Co. Absentee Results

In the first installment of a two part release of absentee ballots tonight, the Franklin County Board of Elections shed some light on how the issue campaigns fared in early voting in Ohio's fastest growing urban area.

The power of "the troops" as a political panacea appears to continue holding incredible power, as early voting in showed Issue 1 with a 78% - 22% edge (and nearly 20,000 vote buffer) despite concerns about adding an additional $200M to our state's already massive debt.

Despite vocal opposition to Issue 2 in and around Columbus and on the blogosphere, that issue too sat comfortably ahead in early voting, with an 11,569 vote margin (good for a 67% - 33% lead).

And, for those who wondered how the late opposition to Issue 3 by powerful Mayor Michael Coleman and others in the Franklin county Democratic establishment might impact the issues chances statewide, these numbers might prove encouraging. The early voting (much of which took place before the Mayor's 11th hour opposition) showed Issue 3 leading by only 5,497 votes (a 58% - 42% advantage). While that tally isn't abysmal, it certainly isn't a large enough lead for Issue 3 backers to feel comfortable ahead of the reporting of election day numbers here.