Tomorrow is Election Day — Tuesday, Nov. 3 — and if your mail ballot is still sitting on the kitchen counter, read this first.

Ohio polls are open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, per the Ohio Secretary of State. If you’re in line by 7:30 p.m., you get to vote.

The mail-ballot deadline is stricter this year

Ohio’s new law SB 293 (signed Dec. 2025) eliminated the postmark grace period: your absentee ballot must be RECEIVED by your county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. Tuesday — not postmarked. Military and overseas voters are excepted, per the Columbus Dispatch.

If you haven’t mailed it yet, don’t — walk it in. Lucas County voters can drop ballots at the Board of Elections, 3737 W. Sylvania Ave. in Toledo.

Lucas County is showing up

Early in-person voting was up 63% compared with 2022, and 10,501 mail ballots were still unreturned as of Oct. 26, according to Lake Erie Inquiry. Early in-person voting ended Nov. 1 at 5 p.m., so Tuesday is the finish line.

What’s on the ballot

Big races include the Ohio Senate race (Brown vs. Husted), governor (Acton vs. Ramaswamy), OH-9 (Kaptur vs. Merrin), and statewide Issue 16 — all races ToledoBuzz has been tracking. Polls open 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. Make a plan, and bring ID.

Featured image: Photo via Wikimedia Commons.