Voters this election season will weigh in on mayor, city and school board races, as well as a statewide ballot issue that would give Ohio the power to issue $2.5 billion in bonds for bridges, roads and other projects.
Voting options
Early, in-person voting: County election boards are open to voters from Tuesday through the Sunday before Election Day.
Here is Ohio’s schedule for early, in-person voting:
April 8-11: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
April 14-18: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
April 21-25: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
April 28: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
April 29: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
April 30 - May 2: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
May 3: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
May 4: 1-5 p.m.
Absentee ballots: Those wanting to vote by mail should fill out an absentee ballot application. That application can be dropped off or mailed to a local county board of elections office. This form must be received by the seventh day before Election Day; during this election, that would be April 29. Election boards and the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office will be open until 8:30 p.m. that day.
Election board workers will then send off an absentee ballot to the applicant’s address. Voters can return their completed absentee ballots by mail, but they must be postmarked no later than the day before Election Day and received by the election office no later than four days after the election, or May 10.
Voters can also return their absentee ballots to their election board in person or drop it off in their county’s designated ballot drop box. The board of elections must receive the ballot no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
Election Day: Voters can confirm their polling locations at VoterLookup.OhioSoS.gov. Polling locations will open across the state at 6:30 a.m. on Election Day and stay open until 7:30 p.m.
Ohio Issue 2
Ohio Issue 2 will appear on all ballots. But this May, Ohio’s Issue 2 has nothing to do with recreational cannabis — that citizen-initiated ballot issue passed in 2023.
Through an amendment to Ohio’s constitution, Issue 2 would give Ohio the power to issue $2.5 billion in bonds for the construction and repair of bridges, roads, water systems and other projects through a program called the State Capital Improvement Program.
These bonds would be used over a 10-year span, with no more than $250 million in bonds issued annually.
A “yes” vote is in favor of the constitutional amendment. A “no” vote would reject the amendment.
This will be the last Issue 2 for Ohio for quite some time. A new Ohio law requires ballot initiatives to be numbered consecutively. The next statewide issue will be called Issue 3, and the one after that will be called Issue 4, and so on.
Photo ID
Voters wanting to cast a ballot in person should make sure they bring an unexpired photo ID to the polls to comply with Ohio’s voter ID law.
Valid forms of identification include an Ohio driver’s license, a U.S. passport or passport card, a state of Ohio ID card, an interim ID form issued by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a U.S. military ID card, an Ohio National Guard ID card, or a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ID card.
All ID cards must be unexpired, have a photograph of the voter and include the voter’s name as it appears on the poll list.
A Trump administration executive order and proposed legislation called the SAVE Act both aim to change how Americans register to vote and cast a ballot, requiring documentary proof of citizenship for both steps. The Trump directive has been legally challenged by voter advocacy groups, and legal experts have called it unconstitutional.
For now, Ohioans can still cast a ballot without a photo ID — they just have to vote absentee. People can both register to vote and vote by mail using only the last four digits of their Social Security number.
People who show up to vote in-person who lack the proper ID are asked to vote provisionally. They must return to their election board office with a valid photo ID by May 10 to have their vote counted. Ohio state ID cards are free to people 17 and older. In order to obtain a state ID card, applicants must provide proof of their full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, citizenship and Ohio street address.
Contacting election boards
Butler County
1802 Princeton Road, Suite 600, Hamilton, OH 45011. Office Hours: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Telephone: (513) 887-3700 Fax: (513) 887-5535. E-mail: butler@OhioSoS.gov. Website: elections.bcohio.gov
Champaign County
1512 S. U.S. 68, Suite L100, Urbana, OH 43078. Office Hours: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Telephone: (937) 484-1575 Fax: (937) 484-1578. E-mail: champaig@OhioSoS.gov. Website: www.boe.ohio.gov/champaign/
Clark County
3130 E. Main St., Springfield, OH 45505. Mailing Address: PO Box 1766 Springfield, OH 45501-1766. Office Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Telephone: (937) 521-2120 Fax: (937) 328-2603. E-mail: elections@clark.boe.ohio.gov. Website: www.boe.ohio.gov/clark/
Greene County
551 Ledbetter Road, Xenia, OH 45385. Office Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Telephone: (937) 562-6170 Fax: (937) 562-6171. E-mail: greene@OhioSoS.gov. Website: www.greene.boe.ohio.gov
Miami County
215 W. Main St., Troy, OH 45373. Office Hours: 8 a.m-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Telephone: (937) 440-3900 Fax: (937) 440-3901. E-mail: miami@OhioSoS.gov. Website: www.boe.ohio.gov/miami/
Montgomery County
451 W. Third St. Dayton, OH 45422. Office Hours: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Telephone: (937) 225-5656 Fax: (937) 496-7798. E-mail: web@montgomery.boe.ohio.gov. Website: www.montgomery.boe.ohio.gov
Warren County
520 Justice Dr., Lebanon, OH 45036. Office Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Telephone: (513) 695-1358 Fax: (513) 695-2953. E-mail: wcboe@warrencountyohio.gov. Website: vote.warrencountyohio.gov
Important dates:
March 21: Military and overseas voting began
April 7: Voter registration deadline
April 8: Early voting begins
April 29: Absentee ballot applications must be received by the election board
May 4: Last day of early, in-person voting
May 5: Absentee ballot postmark deadline
May 6: Election Day, absentee ballots must be returned by mail or hand-delivered to the election board
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