PAULDING — Early voting is under way in Paulding County, where the Nov. 3 general election ballot carries unopposed county officeholders, a three-way race for state representative and a stack of local tax questions headed by a proposed school income tax. The Paulding County Board of Elections, at 105 East Perry Street in Paulding, is open for early in-person voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday this week.
Issue 4 on county ballots asks voters in the Paulding Exempted Village School District — which spans Paulding and Putnam counties — to approve an additional school district income tax for permanent improvements. School officials across Ohio have increasingly turned to income taxes rather than property taxes for building projects, and this question will be decided only by voters who live in the district.
Village of Paulding voters face two more income tax questions of their own: Issue 6, an additional municipal income tax for streets, and Issue 7, an additional municipal income tax for the village pool. Elsewhere in the county, Grover Hill voters will decide an EMS levy renewal, Jackson Township and Washington Township have levy renewals on the ballot, and Latty Township is asking for an additional levy, according to the board of elections’ certified list of issues.
No countywide tax levy appears on Paulding County ballots this fall, and the county offices are uncontested. Republican Michael E. Iler is the only candidate for county commissioner, Republican Angie G. Stoller is the only candidate for county auditor, and Republican Matthew Miller is the only candidate for prosecuting attorney for an unexpired term, according to the board of elections’ official pre-election report.
The county’s most competitive race is for state representative in the 82nd Ohio House District, where Republican incumbent Roy W. Klopfenstein faces Democrat Maddux McCray and Libertarian Christopher Elder. In the 9th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur faces Republican Derek Merrin, while Republican Craig S. Riedel is unopposed for the 1st District Ohio Senate seat and Republican Mark C. Miller is unopposed for the Third District Court of Appeals.
Above the local races, Paulding County voters will also help decide Ohio’s statewide contests — governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state and treasurer, two seats on the Ohio Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate race between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, and statewide Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to present photo identification in order to vote.
Early voting hours expand in the final week: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 28 to 30, with weekend hours on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and a final Sunday session on Nov. 1 from 1 to 5 p.m. Voters must bring an accepted photo ID, such as an Ohio driver’s license, a state ID card or a U.S. passport. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.