MOUNT GILEAD — Early voting is under way in Morrow County, where the Nov. 3 general election ballot is topped locally by a two-county mental health levy that asks voters to renew an existing tax and add a half-mill increase. The Morrow County Board of Elections, at 619 West Marion Road in Mount Gilead, is open for early in-person voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday this week.
The Delaware-Morrow Mental Health & Recovery Services Board is asking voters in both counties to renew its 1.5-mill property tax levy and increase it by 0.5 mill, for a total of 2 mills over five years. If approved, property owners would pay about $50 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s market value, and the levy would collect a little more than $23 million a year across the two counties.
Board officials say the levy is the foundation of the local behavioral health safety net, funding crisis hotlines, mobile crisis response, prevention programs in schools, treatment and addiction recovery services that reach more than 25,000 residents across Delaware and Morrow counties. The board has returned to voters for renewals since the early 1980s, and its leaders say the added half-mill would maintain existing services rather than start new ones.
County offices themselves drew single-candidate fields. Republican Jon Mason is the only candidate for county commissioner for the full term beginning Jan. 1, 2027, and Republican Conni McChesney is the only candidate for county auditor — the board of elections recorded no Democratic petitions filed for either office, so both races were settled by the Republican primary.
The county’s district races give voters more choices. In the 87th Ohio House District, Republican Rep. Jeff McClain is on the ballot for another term, and in the 4th Congressional District, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan faces Democrat Joshua D. Kolasinski. A seat on the Fifth District Court of Appeals, which reviews cases from Morrow County’s courts, is also on the ballot for a term beginning Feb. 9, 2027.
Township, village and school questions vary by precinct across the county, and voters can preview their own sample ballot through the board of elections lookup before voting. Above the local races, Morrow County voters will also help decide Ohio’s statewide contests — governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state and treasurer, two seats on the Ohio Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate race between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, and statewide Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to present photo identification in order to vote.
Early voting hours expand in the final week: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 28 to 30, with weekend hours on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a final Sunday session on Nov. 1 from 1 to 5 p.m. Voters must bring an accepted photo ID, such as an Ohio driver’s license, a state ID card or a U.S. passport. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.