URBANA — Early voting is under way in Champaign County, where voters are deciding a Nov. 3 general election ballot topped by two countywide tax questions — an additional levy for the county Board of Developmental Disabilities and a renewal levy for the Champaign Health District — plus a contested race for county commissioner, while Urbana voters also decide whether to recall their mayor. Early in-person voting is at the Champaign County Board of Elections office, 1512 S. U.S. Highway 68, Suite L-100 in Urbana, with hours this week of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, Oct. 23.
The top money question is an additional 1.5-mill tax for the Champaign County Board of Developmental Disabilities, for developmental disabilities programs, services and facilities. The county auditor estimates it will collect $2,412,660 a year — $53 for each $100,000 of the auditor’s market value — for five years, commencing in 2027 and first due in calendar year 2028. A similar request from the board was defeated in the May primary. The second countywide question renews the Champaign Health District’s operating levy: 0.4 mill, an estimated $303,400 a year, or $6 for each $100,000 of market value, for five years, commencing in 2027 and first due in 2028.
The most contested county race is for county commissioner, for a full term commencing Jan. 1, 2027. Republican Karen T. Bailey, the county’s current auditor, faces Democrat Jacob McKee.
For county auditor, Republican Nino Vitale is the printed candidate, with John Patrick Ritchie also listed in that contest. Two Court of Common Pleas judgeships in the Juvenile/Domestic/Probate Division are unopposed: Lori L. Reisinger (term commencing Feb. 9, 2027) and Brett A. Gilbert (term commencing Feb. 10, 2027). Chris Epley is listed unopposed for the 2nd District Court of Appeals (term commencing Feb. 9, 2027).
Urbana voters face the county’s most dramatic local questions. A petition has placed a recall of Mayor Bill Bean on the city ballot: voters are asked whether Bean shall be removed from office, and they also vote in a successor contest, where Eugene E. Fields Jr. is the candidate listed for the unexpired mayoral term ending Dec. 31, 2027. Urbana voters also decide a proposed charter amendment that would add Section 8.07 to the city charter, prohibiting the construction of data centers in the city — with an exception for smaller facilities, under 7.5 megawatts, built solely to serve a single organization’s own computing needs.
No school-district tax question appears on the November sample ballot reviewed. School money was decided in May instead, when Urbana City School District voters faced a proposed 1 percent earned income tax for current expenses.
Voters also help decide Ohio’s statewide races — governor, attorney general, auditor of state, secretary of state and treasurer of state — two Ohio Supreme Court seats, a U.S. Senate seat, and statewide Issue 3, a proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine Ohio’s existing photo-ID law in the state constitution. The county is in the 4th Congressional District, where the ballot lists Republican Jim Jordan, Democrat Joshua D. Kolasinski and Tracey L. Tackett. Its Ohio House seat is the 85th District, where Republican Tim Barhorst faces Democrat Victoria Maddox; its Ohio Senate seat, District 12, is not on the ballot this cycle.
Absentee ballot applications are due at the board by Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 8:30 p.m. Early voting continues Saturday, Oct. 24, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 25, 1 to 5 p.m., then expands in the final week: Oct. 26, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 27, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Oct. 28 to 30, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 31, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Nov. 1, 1 to 5 p.m. There is no early voting Monday, Nov. 2. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls are open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and in-person voters must show an unexpired Ohio driver’s license or state ID, a U.S. passport, or a U.S. military ID.