Vinton County voters are in the final week of early in-person voting for the Nov. 3 general election, with the Vinton County Board of Elections offering extended hours in McArthur through Sunday, Nov. 1. Early voting takes place at the board’s early vote center in the Community Building, Unit 1, 31935 State Route 93 in McArthur, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s directory of early voting locations.
Under the Ohio Secretary of State’s 2026 voting schedule, early in-person voting runs from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Oct. 28-30, then from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1. There is no early in-person voting on Monday, Nov. 2, and Election Day itself is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The absentee-by-mail window has effectively closed for new requests: the Secretary of State’s schedule set the deadline for absentee ballot applications to be received by the board at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27. Voters who already have a mail ballot must make sure it is received by the Vinton County Board of Elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3 — under this year’s rules a postmark alone is not enough, according to the Secretary of State’s voting schedule.
Voters can return a completed absentee ballot in person to the board office in McArthur or use the board’s secure drop box by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3, and the statewide drop-off listing published by The Columbus Dispatch also lists Vinton County’s location as the Community Building, Unit 1, 31935 SR 93, McArthur. Military and overseas voters have a later receipt deadline of Nov. 7 under the Secretary of State’s schedule.
Vinton County is Ohio’s least populous county, and its ballot, like every Ohio county’s, is headed by the statewide races — governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state, treasurer, two Ohio Supreme Court seats and U.S. senator — along with statewide Issue 3 and the local races, levies and issues on file with the county board of elections. Voters can review what is on their specific ballot through the board before they head to McArthur.
Interest in mail voting has fallen statewide this cycle compared with the last midterm, according to Signal Ohio reporting on Secretary of State data, and Vinton County saw one of the smallest drops in the state, with mail-ballot requests down 16.7 percent from 2022. Early in-person voting, which began Oct. 6, gives Vinton County residents a way to bank a ballot before Election Day lines form.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls across Vinton County will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at assigned precinct polling places, and anyone in line by 7:30 p.m. can vote, according to the Secretary of State. Until then, the early vote center in McArthur remains open through Sunday afternoon for voters who want to cast their ballot this week.