Early voting for the November 3, 2026 general election enters its third week in Allen County on Monday, giving Lima-area voters another full week to cast a ballot in person before Election Day. Early in-person voting is held through the Allen County Board of Elections, 204 N. Main St. in Lima, and voters can check the board’s site at allen.boe.ohio.gov for directions and updates before they go.
For week three, October 19 through October 24, the board lists early in-person hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, with Saturday hours added this week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those hours follow the first two weeks of voting, October 6 through October 16, when in-person voting was also available on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. under the uniform statewide schedule.
Hours expand further in the final week before early voting ends. From October 26 through November 1, voting runs Monday from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Wednesday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., plus Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Early in-person voting ends November 1, ahead of Election Day on November 3.
Voters who want to see exactly what they will be asked to decide can preview their ballot before they arrive. The board of elections offers sample ballots online through its View Ballots and Search To See My Ballot tools, so Allen County voters can review their races and issues at home and arrive ready to vote, rather than seeing the ballot for the first time at the check-in table.
Voting by mail remains an option as well, with two deadlines to keep in mind. Absentee ballot applications are due by 8:30 p.m. on October 27, according to the Ohio Secretary of State, and completed absentee ballots must be received by the board of elections or placed in its drop box by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Voters with questions can reach the Allen County board by phone at (419) 223-8530.
Allen County voters are joining a statewide early vote that was already well underway last week. In a statewide update on October 13, the Ohio Secretary of State reported 194,841 early in-person ballots cast and 33,629 absentee ballots returned across Ohio. Those figures are statewide totals only, and the board has not published a separate Allen County turnout count in the sources for this update.
On the November 3 ballot, Allen County voters are deciding county races and local levies, including a rare contested county commissioner race this year. With Saturday hours now available and longer hours coming in the final week, officials’ schedule gives working voters more chances to vote early in Lima before November 3 — and previewing a sample ballot first is the simplest way to make that trip a quick one.