CINCINNATI, Ohio — Early in-person voting is under way at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, 4700 Smith Road, and Cincinnati-area voters heading into the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election will decide a children’s services levy with a significant increase, an open-seat battle for county commissioner and a Cincinnati Public Schools operating levy. The Hamilton ballot is one of the longest in Ohio, with dozens of city, village, township and school questions layered over the county and statewide races.
The countywide headline is the children’s services levy: a renewal of 4.51 mills plus an increase of 1.1 mills, for a total of 5.61 mills over four years, according to the Board of Elections’ certified November 2026 ballot issues. The county auditor estimates the levy will collect $116,888,718 a year and cost $121 for each $100,000 of market value — about $39 more per $100,000 than the expiring levy. County officials say the current levy, which generates about $81 million a year, no longer covers the rising cost of caring for children in county custody; if the levy fails, dedicated local funding for children’s services ends and commissioners would have to find the money elsewhere in the county budget.
The commissioner race is an open fight for a seat on the three-member board. Democrat Meeka Owens, a Cincinnati city councilmember, won the May Democratic primary with 52 percent over sitting Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas, who will not appear on the November ballot. Owens faces Republican Jonathan Pearson, a Fairfax home and turf business owner who also ran for the commission in 2024. County Auditor Jessica Miranda, a former state representative and Winton Woods school board member, is unopposed.
Cincinnati Public Schools voters will decide a five-year, 7-mill operating levy projected to generate about $66.3 million a year, at an estimated cost of $245 per $100,000 of a home’s market value, according to the district. School questions elsewhere in the county appear on individual district ballots alongside the county races.
City and village issues fill out the ballot. Cheviot asks a 3-mill renewal for current expenses, Deer Park a 6.9-mill renewal, Forest Park a 3.9-mill additional levy for fire and EMS, Norwood an 8-mill renewal for operating expenses, and Lockland an 8-mill additional levy for fire and emergency medical services. Harrison, Madeira and Wyoming have charter amendment questions, and Addyston asks a 1-mill additional levy for its water supply. The board’s certified list runs to more than 30 local questions and issues.
Every Hamilton County ballot also carries the statewide races — governor, attorney general, auditor of state, secretary of state, treasurer of state, U.S. Senate and two Ohio Supreme Court seats — plus Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment on photo identification for voting. Early voting follows the statewide schedule through Sunday, Nov. 1, absentee applications are due by 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 27, and polls on Election Day are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters can pull their exact sample ballot through the Hamilton County Board of Elections.