OAK HARBOR, Ohio — Ottawa County voters are in the final stretch of early voting for the Nov. 3 general election, with the county Board of Elections at 8444 W. State Route 163, Suite 101, in Oak Harbor open Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., under the Ohio Secretary of State’s statewide early-voting schedule.
Early in-person voting began Oct. 6 and ends Sunday, Nov. 1, from 1 to 5 p.m. — the final day to vote early anywhere in Ohio, according to the Secretary of State’s 2026 voting schedule. There is no early voting on Monday, Nov. 2. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls across Ottawa County are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Ottawa County voters are deciding the same statewide races as every Ohioan — governor, U.S. senator, the other statewide executive offices, two Ohio Supreme Court seats and State Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment on voter identification — alongside their county, township, village and school races and local questions, which vary by precinct. The Secretary of State’s sample-ballot directory lets Ottawa County voters enter their name and preview the exact ballot they will see before they arrive.
One deadline has already closed: absentee ballot applications had to be received by the board by 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 27, under the Secretary of State’s schedule. Voters who already have a mail ballot face a harder deadline than in past cycles — under Senate Bill 293, signed in December 2025, a non-military absentee ballot must be received by the board by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day to be counted, with no four-day grace period afterward, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
That change is why Secretary of State Frank LaRose warned on Oct. 27 that it might already be too late to mail a ballot and have it arrive in time, according to Cleveland.com reporting carried by The Columbus Dispatch. The safer route for Ottawa County voters still holding a ballot is to deliver it in person to the Board of Elections office in Oak Harbor by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3.
What happens next: early voting wraps up Sunday afternoon, and Ottawa County’s remaining voters head to their precinct polling places on Tuesday. Results will begin posting after polls close at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3, and NewsForce247 will update this county’s results as the board reports them.
Photo: LeeG7144, CC BY-SA 3.0