CHARDON, Ohio — Early in-person voting is under way at the Geauga County Board of Elections, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite 004, and Chardon-area voters heading toward the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election will decide a countywide road levy renewal, contested state legislative races and a series of township fire and road questions. The board must receive absentee ballot applications by Oct. 27, and voted ballots by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
The one tax question every Geauga County voter will see is a renewal of the county’s 2.5-mill property tax levy for streets, roads and bridges, for five years beginning in 2026. The renewal continues the county’s main dedicated road-funding source at its existing rate, and it anchors a November ballot that is otherwise built from township-level asks.
Geauga’s county offices this cycle drew no Democratic candidates, according to League of Women Voters of Geauga observer reports on the board’s petition reviews, so the commissioner and auditor contests were effectively settled in the May Republican primary, where Jim Dvorak and Steven Oluic competed for commissioner and Joe DeBoth and Charles E. Walder competed for auditor. That leaves the contested November choices for most Geauga voters in the legislative and congressional races.
In Ohio House District 99, Republican incumbent Sarah Fowler Arthur faces Democrat Louis Murphy, a Lakeside High School teacher. In the county’s western townships, Ohio House District 35 pits Democrat Samantha Salamon against Republican Vik Sandhu, and Ohio Senate District 27 pits Democrat Mike Roberto, a former Aurora schools superintendent, against Republican Steve Demetriou. For Congress in the 14th District, Republican incumbent David Joyce faces Democrat Maria Jukic.
Township voters face their own fire and road decisions. Chardon Township asks a renewal with an increase to 3 mills for fire protection and EMS for three years. Montville Township has two questions: a 2-mill renewal for fire protection and EMS and an additional 1.5-mill levy for roads for four years. Munson Township asks a 0.75-mill renewal for roads for a continuing period, and Hambden Township a 0.5-mill renewal for current expenses.
Every Geauga ballot also carries the statewide races — governor, attorney general, auditor of state, secretary of state, treasurer of state, U.S. Senate and two Ohio Supreme Court seats — plus Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment on photo identification for voting. Early voting follows the statewide schedule, with Saturday hours on Oct. 24 and Oct. 31, extended hours in the final week and Sunday, Nov. 1 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Polls on Nov. 3 are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the board offers curbside voting at the back of the county office building for voters who need accommodation.
Photo: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0