Early in-person voting for the November 3 general election enters its final full week on Monday in Crawford County, where voters can cast ballots at the Crawford County Board of Elections, 112 East Mansfield Street, Suite A, in Bucyrus, under the expanded statewide hours set by the Ohio Secretary of State.
The final-week schedule stretches well beyond regular office hours. The board office is open Monday, October 26 from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday, October 27 from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Wednesday through Friday, October 28 to 30, from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, October 31 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, November 1 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Early in-person voting ends after Sunday — there is no early voting on Monday, November 2.
Tuesday, October 27 is also a deadline day for Crawford County voters who prefer to vote by mail: absentee ballot applications must be received by the board of elections by 8:30 p.m. that evening. Voters returning a voted absentee ballot can mail it, deliver it in person to the board office, or use the drop box at the entrance to the courthouse on North Walnut Street — though state law limits drop-box use to a voter returning their own ballot. Mailed and hand-delivered ballots alike must reach the board by the close of polls, 7:30 p.m., on Election Day to be counted.
Crawford County voters opened this election season with a first look at their November 3 ballot earlier this fall, when NewsForce247 profiled the county’s school income tax questions and local levies. The final week of early voting is the last chance for voters in Bucyrus, Galion, Crestline and the county’s townships and villages to weigh those questions — and the statewide races and statewide Issue 3 — ahead of Election Day lines.
Early in-person voting began statewide on October 6, and the Secretary of State’s schedule builds in the two Saturdays and the Sunday before Election Day specifically so working voters can cast a ballot outside weekday business hours. Crawford County’s single early-voting location is the board office in Bucyrus; there are no satellite early-voting sites in the county.
Voters who wait for Election Day will cast their ballots at their assigned polling places on Tuesday, November 3, when polls across Ohio are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Anyone in line at 7:30 p.m. is entitled to vote.
Questions about registration status, polling places or absentee applications can be directed to the Crawford County Board of Elections at 419-562-8721. With one week left, board staff are urging voters who can vote early to do so and leave Election Day capacity for those who cannot.