Tuscarawas County voters get their last chance to vote early in person on Sunday, Nov. 1, when the Tuscarawas County Board of Elections in New Philadelphia opens from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for the final day of early voting before the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election. The board’s office is at 933 E. High Ave. in New Philadelphia, and Sunday’s four-hour session closes an early-voting run that began Oct. 6, according to the board of elections’ published schedule.
There is no early voting on Monday — Ohio law gives boards the day before Election Day off the early schedule — so voters who want to cast a ballot before Tuesday must use Sunday’s window or vote at their polling place on Election Day, when polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Under Senate Bill 293, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in December 2025, absentee ballots by mail must now be received by the board by the close of polls on Election Day to be counted, with an exception for military and overseas voters, The Columbus Dispatch reported — which is why state officials have urged voters still holding mail ballots to drop them off in person at 933 E. High Ave. rather than risk the mail.
The countywide question drawing the most attention is Issue 8, an additional 1.2-mill, 10-year levy for the Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities’ community programs and services. The county auditor estimates it would collect about $4.21 million annually and cost $42 per $100,000 of market value, according to the auditor’s ballot information. It is one of 23 levies across the county that The Times Reporter catalogued, spanning parks, police, roads and schools.
In New Philadelphia itself, voters decide a 2.4-mill additional levy for parks and recreation that would generate about $1.33 million annually and cost $84 per $100,000 of value, The Times Reporter reported. Village and township requests on ballots around the county include renewals for current expenses in Uhrichsville, Dennison, Gnadenhutten and Sugarcreek, street money in Bolivar, and a continuing additional levy for police protection in the Village of Tuscarawas, according to The Times Reporter’s levy roundup.
Two countywide offices are contested. Voters choose between Kent Alan Watson, a Democrat from Dover, and Kristin R. Zemis, a Republican from New Philadelphia, for county commissioner, and between Lisa Maria Contini, a Republican from New Philadelphia, and Joe S. Rinehart, a Democrat from Bolivar, for county auditor, according to The Times Reporter’s ballot preview. Some voters face a rarer question as well: residents of Barnhill will decide whether to surrender the village’s corporate powers and dissolve into Goshen Township, The Times Reporter reported.
Voters should bring an accepted photo ID — an Ohio driver’s license or state ID, a U.S. passport or passport card, or a military ID — under the identification rules the board of elections posts for all voters. Voters can check their registration, view a sample ballot for their precinct and find their Election Day polling location through the board’s voter information search, and the board can be reached at 330-343-8819 with questions.
After Sunday’s 5 p.m. close, the next votes cast in Tuscarawas County will be at neighborhood polling places on Tuesday. Results will begin posting after polls close at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3, and NewsForce247 will report the county’s levy and courthouse outcomes as the board certifies them.
Photo: Tim Kiser, CC BY-SA 2.5