Perry County voters in New Lexington are in the final days of early voting before the Nov. 3 general election, with in-person early voting running through Sunday, Nov. 1 under the Ohio Secretary of State’s statewide schedule. The Perry County Board of Elections is at 200 S. Jackson St. in New Lexington, the drop-off location listed for Perry County in The Columbus Dispatch’s statewide guide.
Early in-person voting began Oct. 6 and includes the Saturday and Sunday before Election Day, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s 2026 voting schedule. The remaining hours are Saturday, Oct. 31 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 1 from 1 to 5 p.m., per the Secretary of State’s schedule. There is no in-person early voting on Monday, Nov. 2.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at voters’ assigned precinct polling places, according to the Ohio Secretary of State. Voters should bring a valid form of identification; a student ID is not an acceptable ID for voting in Ohio.
Absentee voters face a hard deadline this year. Under Senate Bill 293, signed into law in December 2025, absentee ballots must be received by the board of elections by the close of polls on Election Day to be counted, with an exception for military and overseas voters, according to The Columbus Dispatch. There is no longer a four-day grace period after Election Day, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose said on Oct. 27 that it might already be too late to drop ballots in the mail and have them arrive by the Election Day deadline, according to Cleveland.com as reported by The Columbus Dispatch. Perry County voters holding a completed absentee ballot are therefore urged to deliver it in person to the board of elections at 200 S. Jackson St., New Lexington, or its secure drop box, by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3.
Perry County voters will join the rest of Ohio in deciding the state’s eight statewide races and statewide Issue 3, alongside the county and local races, levies and issues on their own ballots. Voters can preview their specific ballot and confirm their polling place through the Ohio Secretary of State’s voter tools before heading out.
What happens next is the close of early voting at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, followed by Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3, with polls open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Results will be reported after polls close, and NewsForce247 will follow Perry County’s returns and certification in its second-pass election coverage.
Photo: Niagara66, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons