New data from the Ohio Secretary of State's Office indicates that Democrats are using early voting more than Republicans in the state's May primary. According to data, 181,651 ballots have been cast in the Democratic primary and 146,950 in the Republican primary. Despite these numbers, thousands of more ballots are still expected to be returned before Tuesday. An additional 20,204 Democratic mail-in primary ballots had been requested from local election boards but not yet returned. In southwest Ohio, data shows that Hamilton County Democrats have returned nearly three times as many ballots as Republicans. However, Hamilton County and other urban counties in Ohio are largely driving up this discrepancy. Despite this disparity, primary participation does not necessarily equate to party enthusiasm for the general election. The primary will be held on May 5.