MARIETTA, Ohio — Washington County voters have one last chance to vote early in person on Sunday, Nov. 1, before Tuesday’s Nov. 3 general election, according to the Washington County Board of Elections and the Ohio Secretary of State’s voting schedule.
Early in-person voting runs Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Washington County Board of Elections, 204 Davis Avenue, Suite B, in Marietta. The board’s phone number is (740) 374-6828. There is no early in-person voting on Monday, Nov. 2. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and voters cast ballots at their assigned polling locations.
The county’s Nov. 3 ballot includes two commissioner races and three levies, as NewsForce247 covered in its first-pass look at the Washington County ballot, along with the statewide races on every Ohio ballot and statewide Issue 3, a proposed constitutional amendment that would add Ohio’s existing voter photo identification requirements to the state constitution, as The Marcolian, Marietta College’s student newspaper, explained. Acceptable identification includes an unexpired Ohio driver’s license, a state identification card, a U.S. passport or qualifying military identification, The Marcolian reported.
Absentee voters face a hard deadline this year. Under Senate Bill 293, absentee ballots must be received by the board of elections by the close of polls at 7:30 p.m. on Election Day to be counted — there is no longer a grace period after Election Day, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Secretary of State Frank LaRose said on Oct. 27 that it might already be too late to drop a ballot in the mail and have it arrive by the deadline, according to Cleveland.com reporting cited by the Dispatch. Washington County voters holding a completed absentee ballot should hand-deliver it to the board office at 204 Davis Avenue rather than mailing it.
Voters must bring an accepted photo ID to vote in person, whether early or on Election Day. Sample ballots and polling-location information are available from the Washington County Board of Elections.
What happens next: early voting ends at 5 p.m. Sunday. After that, the only way to vote in this election is in person at your polling place on Tuesday, Nov. 3, between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., or by hand-delivering a completed absentee ballot to the board office before polls close that evening.
Photo: Bwsmith84, CC BY