Union County voters are in the final week of early voting for the Nov. 3 general election, with the Union County Board of Elections in Marysville taking in-person ballots on extended hours through Sunday, Nov. 1. The board, at 835 East 5th St., Suite A in Marysville, is open Wednesday, Oct. 28 through Friday, Oct. 30 from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 31 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 1 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., according to the board’s published early vote schedule. There is no early voting on Monday, Nov. 2.
The schedule follows the statewide early in-person voting calendar set by the Ohio Secretary of State, which began Oct. 6 and ends the Sunday before Election Day. Union County voters who miss the early window can still cast a ballot at their assigned precinct polling place on Tuesday, Nov. 3, when polls across Ohio are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Early ballots are cast at the board office, not at a voter’s precinct location.
Interest in early voting has run strong in Union County this cycle. Marysville Matters reported earlier this month that ballots from voters outside the two major parties were the biggest movement in the county’s early returns, with 2,029 ballots received from independent voters nearly matching the 2,131 Republican ballots in the board’s party-specific report, and in-person voting accounting for about three-fourths of completed early ballots at that point in the count.
On the Nov. 3 ballot, Union County voters will decide statewide races including governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state, treasurer, two Ohio Supreme Court seats and a U.S. Senate contest, along with statewide Issue 3 and the county, township, municipal and school questions on their local ballots. Voters can preview their specific ballot through the board of elections and the Secretary of State’s voter lookup tools before they head out.
The board is led by Director Brandon Clay and Deputy Director Michelle Forrider, with board members Dean E. Cook, Barbara A. Luke, Fred Vogel and Rich Coglianese, according to the county’s board of elections page. The office can be reached at (937) 642-2836 for questions about registration status, absentee ballots and polling locations.
Absentee ballots returned by mail must reach the board by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day to be counted under Ohio law, and voters who requested a mail ballot but decide to vote in person instead should bring the mail ballot with them or be prepared to cast a provisional ballot. Anyone still in line when an early voting session is scheduled to end is allowed to vote.
For Marysville and Union County residents, the practical message of the final week is simple: the board office on East 5th Street is the only early voting site in the county, hours stretch into the evening Wednesday through Friday, and after 5 p.m. Sunday the next chance to vote is at the precinct on Election Day itself.
Photo: Nyttend, public domain