Poll: Nearly Fifth Surveyed in Ohio Have Already Voted

A survey released Saturday by the Democratic pollster-founded Public Policy Polling said that 19 percent of respondents in Ohio have already cast their votes for president in early balloting.

Out of those who have voted early, 76 say they voted for President Obama compared to 24 percent for Mitt Romney. Of those who have not voted yet, Romney has a 51-45 advantage.

The new overall numbers have Obama up 51-46, compared to the 49-45 spread when the poll was conducted two weeks earlier.

As far as the vice presidential debate, 46 percent of likely Ohio voters polled picked Joe Biden as the winner while 37 percent picked Paul Ryan. Independents favored Biden’s performance 44 percent to 32 percent.

PPP’s results are from a sample that was 40 percent Democratic, 36 percent Republican, and 24 percent Independent/other.

“One thing clear from our poll: Republican efforts to make a big deal out of Libya aren’t succeeding. By a 51/43 margin, voters trust Obama more than Romney on dealing with that issue,” said PPP’s Tom Jensen.

Romney made major gains in his favorability numbers in most of the states PPP has polled since the presidential debate, but his rating has stayed at 45 percent in Ohio.

Republicans lead the generic Congressional ballot 44-42 even though House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) only has a 33 percent approval rating in his state.