T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA St. Clairsville residents head to the polls to cast their votes for the 2024 election.

WOODSFIELD — Statewide turnout in Ohio and West Virginia for Tuesday’s presidential election was high, but the percentage of ballots cast was even higher than the state average in most local counties on either side of the Ohio River.

In Ohio, voter turnout was 69.69%. There were 5,686,302 ballots cast for the election in the Buckeye State, and 8,159,946 residents eligible to vote.

Two of the four local counties in Eastern Ohio had the highest turnout among all local counties.

∫ Monroe County had the highest turnout rate among local counties at 72.93%. There are 9,326 registered voters in the county, and 6,801 voted in the election.

Mollie Landefeld, director of elections, attributed the enthusiasm there to three contested races for county offices in Monroe County. She noted there were two contested commission races and a contested election for sheriff. All of these raised interest, according to Landefeld.

“And voting for president was a high priority for a lot of people,” she added. “Everybody wants to vote for president every four years, even though they should vote every year.”

— Harrison County had a 71.59% turnout rate. There are 9,890 registered voters, and 7,080 cast ballots there.

— Belmont County’s turnout rate was 69.45%. The county lists 44,627 registered voters, and 30,999 voted in the general election.

— Jefferson County’s turnout rate was 68.25%. Ballots submitted totaled 31,209, and there are 45,726 registered voters in the county.

While lower than their counterparts in Ohio, local West Virginia counties also posted strong voter turnouts. Across the Mountain State, 62.80% of registered voters turned out to vote, and five of the six Northern Panhandle counties had turnout that exceeded that rate. West Virginia saw 759,815 voters cast ballots among 1,209,885 registered voters.

— Ohio County’s turnout was 67.02%. There were 18,770 votes cast from among 28,006 registered voters.

“This election was very important to everybody, no matter who they were voting for,” said Erin Witchey, coordinator of elections.“They (voters) made it a point to get registered, and a point to get to the polls.”

Witchey added that records show the recent turnout statistically higher than for elections in past years — and even considerably higher than it was for the May 14 primary election at 40.30%

— In Hancock County, 65.94% of voters turned out for the 2024 presidential election. There were 13,103 ballots submitted, and there are 19,870 registered voters in the county.

— Marshall County saw a turnout of 65.34% for the election. In the county there are 20,530 registered voters, and 13,415 cast ballots.

— Brooke County turnout was 65.17%. Ballots cast totaled 9,795, and there are 15,030 registered voters in the county.

–Tyler County posted a turnout of 63.19%. There were 3,605 ballots cast in the county among 5,705 registered voters.

— Turnout in Wetzel County was 61.62%. Votes cast totaled 6,203, and there are 10,067 registered voters in the county.