Jackson County voters are in the final days of early voting, with the county board of elections open for extended hours in Jackson through Sunday, Nov. 1, ahead of the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election.
Early in-person voting takes place at the Jackson County Board of Elections, 25 E. South St., Suite B, in Jackson — at the rear of the Job and Family Services building — according to the board’s official early-voting schedule. Voting runs Friday, Oct. 30 from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., continues Saturday, Oct. 31 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and ends Sunday, Nov. 1 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., per the board and the Ohio Secretary of State’s statewide schedule.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls across Jackson County are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and voters cast ballots at their assigned precinct polling places. The county’s first-pass election story earlier this fall walked through the local ballot, including the Stephens-Harper state House race and the appeals contest Jackson County shares with its Southeast Ohio neighbors; the statewide races — governor, U.S. Senate and State Issue 3, the photo ID constitutional amendment — top every Jackson County ballot as well.
One deadline has already changed how this election ends. Under Senate Bill 293, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in December 2025, absentee ballots must arrive by the close of polls on Election Day to be counted, with an exception for military and overseas voters — there is no longer a four-day grace period after Election Day, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Oct. 27 that it might already be too late to mail a ballot and have it arrive in time, as reported by Cleveland.com and cited by The Columbus Dispatch.
That makes hand delivery the safe route in the final days: a completed absentee ballot can be dropped off at the board’s office at 25 E. South St., Suite B, Jackson, and all absentee ballots — mailed or delivered in person — must be in the board’s hands by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3, according to the board’s schedule. Military and overseas (UOCAVA) ballots returned by mail face a later deadline of Saturday, Nov. 7.
The absentee application deadline passed Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 8:30 p.m., so voters who do not already hold a ballot have two remaining paths: vote early in person at the board office this weekend, or vote at their precinct on Election Day. Voters must bring an accepted form of photo identification under Ohio law.
What happens next: early voting closes Sunday, Nov. 1 at 5 p.m., and Jackson County’s verdicts — in its local races and levies as well as the statewide contests — will be counted after polls close at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3.