Fayette County voters entered the final full week of early voting on Monday, October 26, with the board of elections office at 135 South Main Street in Washington Court House open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. under the statewide schedule set by the Ohio Secretary of State for the November 3 general election.
Early in-person voting continues Tuesday, October 27, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. — the longest day of the early window — and runs 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, October 28 to 30. Weekend hours follow, with the office open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, the last day to vote early in person anywhere in Ohio.
One local measure drawing attention on the Fayette County ballot is the Fayette County EMS District’s renewal levy. The district, which is marking its 50th anniversary this year after being established in 1976, is asking voters to renew funding of not more than 1.9 mills — about $49 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home, according to the cost breakdown the district released in August.
The levy is expected to raise about $1.48 million a year for the district, which responds to roughly 4,400 calls for service annually as the county’s primary ambulance provider out of Washington Court House under Director Rodney List. Officials have stressed the measure is a renewal of existing funding rather than a new tax, so it would not raise the district’s tax rate above what residents already pay.
The EMS district covers all of the county’s townships and municipal corporations, including the village of New Holland, with the exception of Jefferson Township, the village of Jeffersonville, and the portion of Perry Township served by the Greenfield Exempted Village School District — only residents of the participating communities vote on the levy. Under the district’s billing policy, a patient’s insurance is billed for ambulance service and any remaining balance is covered by levy revenue rather than passed on to the resident, officials have said.
Time is also running out for Fayette County voters who want to vote by mail: absentee ballot applications must be received by the board of elections by 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27. Voters who already have a mail ballot should return it promptly — it can be mailed back or hand-delivered to the board office — because non-military absentee ballots must be received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, to be counted.
After early voting closes on November 1, Fayette County voters who have not yet cast a ballot will vote at their assigned polling places on Tuesday, November 3, when polls across Ohio are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Ohio voters must present an accepted photo ID to vote in person, and sample ballots and polling-place information are available through the Fayette County Board of Elections and the Secretary of State’s voter lookup tools.
Photo: Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0