OTTAWA, Ohio — Putnam County voters are in the final week of early in-person voting for the Nov. 3 general election, with ballots being cast at the Putnam County Board of Elections, 575 Ottawa-Glandorf Road, Suite 2, in Ottawa, according to the board.
Early voting runs from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 28-30, according to the board’s published schedule. The final weekend follows the statewide schedule: Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 1, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., which is the last day of early in-person voting.
There is no early voting on Monday, Nov. 2. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, voters cast ballots at their assigned polling locations, with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., according to the board.
The board, led by Director Kathy Miller and Deputy Director Tina Schreiber, can be reached at 419-538-6850, according to the board’s page on the Ohio Secretary of State’s board-of-elections directory. The board’s site also carries its federal write-in absentee notices for the Nov. 3 election, so voters can confirm their registration and review what is on their ballot before they arrive.
For voters using mail ballots, the deadline to request an absentee ballot has now passed: applications had to be received by the board by 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 27, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s voting schedule. Mailed absentee ballots must be received by the board by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day to be counted, according to the Secretary of State.
Voters can also return a completed absentee ballot in person, or place it in the drop-off in front of the Board of Elections office, according to the board. Putnam County’s early-vote site is the single countywide location for in-person early voting — Election Day itself is the only time ballots are cast at neighborhood precincts.
Outside the early-voting sessions, the board office keeps regular hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to the board, and voters with questions about an absentee application or a ballot already requested can email the board or call the office number listed above. Voters who have not yet returned a mail ballot should allow for postal delivery time, since a postmark alone is not enough — the ballot itself must reach the board by the Election Day deadline, according to the Secretary of State’s schedule.
Voters who want to avoid Election Day lines have five early-voting days left, ending with the Sunday afternoon session on Nov. 1 in Ottawa.