Early in-person voting continues in Huron County this week, with the Board of Elections open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, October 21 to 23, for the November 3 general election. Voters can cast an early ballot at the board office, 180 Milan Ave., Suite 4, in Norwalk, inside the Huron County Administration Building, where the board says absentee voting is in the back of the building in Meeting Room A.
The 8-to-5 hours are set statewide by the Ohio Secretary of State for October 19 to 23, the third full week of early in-person voting. Early voting began across Ohio on October 6, and every county board follows the same schedule this week, in Norwalk as in any other Ohio county.
Hours expand as Election Day nears, per the Secretary of State’s schedule: Saturday, October 24, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; October 26, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; October 27 until 8:30 p.m.; October 28 to 30, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; October 31, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, November 1, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., when early in-person voting ends.
Voters who would rather vote by mail face a nearer deadline. The Huron County board says an absentee ballot request, made on the state’s Form 11-A and returned by mail or in person to the board at 180 Milan Ave. in Norwalk, must be received by 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27. A voted absentee ballot must be received by the board by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, and applications and voted ballots can also be dropped off at the drop box in front of the Huron County Administration Building.
Anyone voting in person needs an acceptable photo ID. Under Ohio law, as described by the Secretary of State and the county board, that means a valid, unexpired photo ID: an Ohio driver’s license, a State of Ohio ID card, an interim ID form from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a U.S. passport or passport card, a U.S. military ID card, an Ohio National Guard ID card, or a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ID card.
Neither the board nor the Secretary of State had published a Huron County-specific early turnout figure in the official updates checked for this story, so the practical news this week is the schedule itself. Voters unsure about their registration, polling place or ballot can check through VoteOhio.gov or call the board at 419-668-8238 before traveling to Norwalk.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, when polls across Huron County and Ohio are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and voters cast ballots at their assigned precinct polling places rather than at the board office. With early voting in its third week and the October 27 absentee request deadline a week away, officials are urging voters to make a plan — vote early in Norwalk during the posted hours, return a mail ballot on time, or vote in person on November 3.
Photo: Finetooth, CC BY-SA 3.0