DEFIANCE — Defiance County voters are in the final stretch of early in-person voting for the Nov. 3 general election, with the county board of elections at 1300 E. Second St., Suite 103, in Defiance taking ballots on the statewide schedule set by the Ohio Secretary of State. Early voting runs through Sunday, Nov. 1, and there is no early voting on Monday, Nov. 2.
Under the Secretary of State’s 2026 early-voting schedule, Defiance County’s remaining hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29 and Friday, Oct. 30, then 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1. Voters still in line when a session is scheduled to end are allowed to vote. Early ballots are cast at the board of elections, not at a voter’s Election Day precinct.
The board’s regular office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to the Secretary of State’s county boards directory, which lists the Defiance County board’s phone as 419-782-8543. The Defiance County Board of Elections site, hosted at boe.ohio.gov/defiance, posts sample ballots, polling locations and early-voting hours for the Nov. 3 general election.
For voters who requested an absentee ballot by mail, the deadline to apply has passed — applications had to be received by 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, under the Secretary of State’s schedule. Mailed absentee ballots must be received by the board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day to be counted, so voters holding a ballot late in the cycle can deliver it in person to the board office instead of relying on the mail.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, Defiance County polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at assigned precinct polling places, and voters in line by 7:30 p.m. can vote. Ohio voters voting in person must bring an accepted photo ID, a requirement that is itself on the Nov. 3 ballot statewide as Issue 3, which asks voters whether to write the photo ID rule into the Ohio Constitution.
Defiance County’s Nov. 3 ballot also carries the statewide races — governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state, treasurer, two Ohio Supreme Court seats and a U.S. Senate seat — alongside county and local races and issues shown on the board’s sample ballots. Voters can preview their exact ballot through the board’s sample-ballot tools before heading to the early-voting site or their precinct.
This is Defiance County’s second-pass election update in NewsForce247’s county-by-county coverage of the Nov. 3 election. The county’s first-pass preview ran earlier this month. After the polls close Nov. 3, NewsForce247 will return to Defiance County for its results and certification.