Lucas County voters have one week left to cast an early in-person ballot for the November 3 general election at the county Early Vote Center, 3737 W. Sylvania Ave. in Toledo, Entrance C, as early voting enters its final stretch across Ohio.
Early in-person hours this week follow the statewide schedule set by the Ohio Secretary of State: 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., when early in-person voting ends. Voters should bring a valid photo ID.
Tuesday is also a deadline for mail voters: absentee ballot applications must be received by the Lucas County Board of Elections by 8:30 p.m. on October 27. Completed absentee ballots must be received by the board by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, to be counted, so voters who still hold a ballot should hand-deliver it to the board or the drop box at the Early Vote Center rather than risk the mail.
On the countywide ballot, Lucas County voters are deciding races for county commissioner and county auditor and seats on the Court of Common Pleas, along with a library levy and the statewide offices and issues every Ohio voter faces. A first-pass preview of the county’s ballot was published earlier in this series; this update covers the final-week voting logistics reported by the board of elections and the Secretary of State.
Statewide, voters are choosing Ohio’s governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state, treasurer, two seats on the Ohio Supreme Court and a U.S. Senate seat, and deciding statewide Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment on voter identification. Those statewide contests appear on every Lucas County ballot alongside the local races and levies.
Voters who wait for Election Day will vote at their assigned precinct polling place on Tuesday, November 3, when polls across Ohio are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters can confirm their registration, precinct and sample ballot through the Lucas County Board of Elections or the Secretary of State’s voter lookup before heading out.
Board officials remind voters that no one may return a voted absentee ballot to a precinct polling location on Election Day — ballots must go to the board of elections office. Lines are typically longest in the final weekend, so voters who can come on a weekday morning this week will usually wait the least.