(Election 2024 – Photo Illustration/MetroCreative)
MARIETTA — Early voting for the Nov. 5 General Election will get underway starting today in Washington County, officials said.
The only location where early voting will be taking place will be at the Washington County Board of Elections office at 204 Davis Ave. in Marietta, said Mandy Amos, director of the office.
Signs will be placed outside to help guide people to their office.
“Our office is the only place where early voting will be taking place,” she said. “We are going to be expecting a number of people to come in as it is the first day of early voting.”
People coming in to vote need to bring a valid Ohio driver’s license or Ohio ID card. They are also accepting valid passports as a form of photo identification.
Amos said people who have moved to the area from another state will need to get a valid Ohio driver’s license or Ohio ID card as an out-of-state license or identification will not be accepted.
The dates and times for early voting in the Board of Elections Office in Marietta are:
* Tuesday, Oct. 8, to Friday, Oct. 11, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
* Monday, Oct. 14, to Friday, Oct. 18, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
* Monday, Oct. 21, to Friday, Oct. 25, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
* Saturday, Oct. 26, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* Sunday, Oct. 27, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
* Monday, Oct. 28, from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
* Tuesday, Oct. 29, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
* Wednesday, Oct. 30, to Friday, Nov. 1, from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
* Saturday, Nov. 2, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
* Sunday, Nov. 3, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
There will be no early voting done on Monday, Nov. 4, the day before Election Day, Amos said.
The last day to register to vote in Ohio was Monday.
Amos is urging people applying for an absentee ballot to do it as soon as possible as the last day they can mail out absentee ballots is Oct. 29.
Absentee ballots have to be postmarked by Nov. 4, the day before the election.
People can physically return an absentee ballot to the Board of Elections Office on Election Day until the polls close at 7:30 p.m. People who are returning ballots for a family member or someone they are a caretaker for will be required to fill out an affidavit, she said.
If anyone has questions, they can call the Board of Elections office at 740-374-6828.
In Wood County, West Virginia’s early voting for the Nov. 5 general election will begin on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the Judge Black Annex at 315 Market St. in downtown Parkersburg and will run through Nov. 2, said Wood County Clerk Joe Gonzales.
The site will be open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. There is no Sunday voting in West Virginia, he said.
Community early voting sites will be open Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 at the Williamstown City Building, 100 W. Fifth St., Williamstown; the Vienna Community Building, 1301 34th St., Vienna; the Mineral Wells Volunteer Fire Department, 1695 Elizabeth Pike, Mineral Wells; and the Lubeck Volunteer Fire Department, 1340 Harris Highway, Parkersburg.
All the early voting sites will be open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
The last day to register to vote or change parties in West Virginia will be Oct. 15, Gonzales said.
People voting early need to bring a valid driver’s license or state ID card or a voter registration card, he said, adding first-time voters need to have a photo ID.
The county will take absentee ballot applications through Oct. 30. The applications have to physically be in the county clerk’s office by 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 30 to be processed.
People can physically return two absentee ballots to the county’s Voter Registration Office on the fourth floor of the Wood County Courthouse by 4:30 p.m. Nov. 4, the day before the election.
Otherwise, absentee ballots have to be postmarked by Election Day to be counted, officials said.
If anyone has questions, they can call the Wood County Clerk’s office at 304-424-1860.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com