Local

Ohio early voting closes with a midterm record as more than 1.5 million ballots are cast

Columbus, Ohio • November 1, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

Editorial illustration: voters waiting in line outside a county elections building in Ohio on a bright autumn afternoon

Editorial illustration — Press Pass USA

Ohio's early voting period closed Sunday, November 1, with the state already past its midterm record: nearly 1.5 million Ohioans had cast a ballot by Friday afternoon, October 30, surpassing the early-vote totals from the 2022 and 2018 midterm elections, according to the Dayton Daily News, which cited data from the Ohio Secretary of State's office.

Early in-person voting ended Sunday at 5 p.m., after boards of elections were open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the final day. The surge was driven by in-person voting: the Dayton Daily News reported an 85% increase in early in-person voting this cycle, even as mail-in voting fell 45%.

The pattern held across the state's big counties. In Montgomery County, home to Dayton, 53,825 ballots had been cast early as of Friday afternoon, including 32,871 in-person votes, the Dayton Daily News reported. In Stark County, home to Canton, more than 43,000 voters had cast ballots as of October 29 — already above the county's entire 2022 midterm early-vote total of 42,580, the Canton Repository reported. And in Hamilton County, home to Cincinnati, early voting was running well ahead of 2022, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported on October 28, when more than 1 million ballots had already been returned statewide.

Officials and analysts cautioned against reading the early numbers as a prediction. The Journal-News noted the totals likely reflect voters who would have voted anyway choosing to vote earlier, not necessarily new enthusiasm. Early ballots also reveal nothing about how anyone voted — only who has returned a ballot.

What remains now is Election Day itself. Polls open Tuesday, November 3, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters who still hold a mail ballot must get it to their county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for it to count: under a law signed in December 2025, Ohio no longer has a grace period for absentee ballots that arrive after Election Day, with an exception for military and overseas voters.

Sources: Dayton Daily News / Journal-News via Ohio Secretary of State data (Oct. 30–31, 2026); Cincinnati Enquirer (Oct. 28, 2026); Canton Repository (Nov. 1, 2026); Ohio Secretary of State early-voting schedule.