COLUMBUS – Today is the day Ohioans can begin voting for candidates in the state’s March 15 primary contests.
Residents can vote by mail or in person before Election Day without giving any reason. Registered voters can cast their ballots early over the course of four weeks, including two Saturdays and a Sunday.
More than 798,000 are eligible to vote the election in Franklin County.
The Franklin County Board of Elections says 6,774 voters requested applications to vote early by mail, compared to fewer than 1,400 at the beginning of early voting in 2008, the most recent year with no incumbent candidate running for president, said spokesman Ben Piscitelli.
Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted says voters will have the chance to help decide races for their party’s presidential nominee, cast ballots on primary races for U.S. Senate, 17 congressional contests, as well as local candidates and 465 local issues in 82 of the state’s 88 counties.
Husted’s website includes a “Voter Toolkit” that helps Ohioans perform a number of election-related functions.
Franklin County voters can vote in person at the Board of Elections offices at 1700 Morse Road:
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Weekdays Wed. Feb. 17 through Friday, Mar. 4
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Saturday, Mar. 5
8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Weekdays, Monday, Mar. 7 through Friday, Mar. 11
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Saturday, Mar. 12
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Sunday, Mar. 13
8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. – Monday, Mar. 14
Voters have until March 12 to request a ballot by mail or until March 14 to vote in-person.
Absentee ballots returned in-person must arrive at the Board of Elections by 7:30 p.m. on March 15.