Franklin County voters are entering the final days of early in-person voting for the November 3 general election, with the county Board of Elections at 1700 Morse Road in Columbus open long hours through Sunday, November 1, according to the board’s published early voting schedule.
The final stretch runs from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 30, continues Saturday, October 31 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and closes Sunday, November 1 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. There is no early voting on Monday, November 2. On Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, voting moves to assigned precinct polling places, where polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Turnout so far is running ahead of recent midterm cycles. The Columbus Dispatch reported on October 23 that more than 88,000 Franklin County residents had already voted early — roughly 44,500 of them in person and nearly 44,000 by mail — a pace Board of Elections Director Antone White told The Columbus Dispatch was higher than in the 2018 and 2022 midterms.
White also urged voters to check where they are assigned to vote on Election Day. On October 15, the board said it was mailing polling location change notices to 54,645 registered voters whose assigned polling place has changed for this election, and the county will operate 298 polling locations on November 3, according to the board.
Franklin County ballots carry the statewide races that top every Ohio ballot this year, including governor, U.S. senator and two Ohio Supreme Court seats, along with statewide Issue 3, which asks voters whether Ohio’s photo ID requirement should be written into the state constitution. Columbus, Worthington and Gahanna voters also face multiple charter amendments, and several communities and school districts have levies on their local ballots, The Columbus Dispatch reported in its roundup of Franklin County issues.
Voters casting an early ballot in person need an accepted, unexpired photo ID, and absentee ballots returned by mail or in person must be in the board’s hands by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day — the board’s secure drop box outside 1700 Morse Road remains available until that hour. Voters can check their registration, view a sample ballot and find their Election Day polling place at vote.franklincountyohio.gov.
What happens next is the close of early voting at 5 p.m. Sunday, a quiet Monday with no early voting anywhere in Ohio, and then Election Day itself on Tuesday, when Franklin County’s 298 polling locations open at 6:30 a.m. Officials are encouraging anyone who can vote this weekend to do so and leave shorter lines on Tuesday for voters who cannot.
Photo: ⦮, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons