JEFFERSON — Early voting is under way in Ashtabula County, where residents are casting ballots at the Board of Elections office at 8 W. Walnut St. in Jefferson ahead of the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election. The office is the county’s single early-voting location for voters from Ashtabula, Conneaut, Geneva and Jefferson to the county’s far southern townships; neighborhood precincts open only on Election Day.
The one countywide local question is Issue 4, a proposed additional 0.5-mill levy for the Ashtabula County Metroparks, for parks and recreation over 15 years, from 2027 through 2041. It is the measure that will appear on every ballot in the county, alongside statewide Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment on voter identification requirements.
Two county offices are genuinely contested. For county commissioner, Republican Casey Kozlowski of Jefferson faces Democrat Jayson-Robert T. Noscal of Rock Creek. For county auditor, Democrat Oakey L. Emery of Conneaut faces Republican Scott Yamamoto of Geneva. A common pleas judgeship is also contested, with Democrat Albert S. Camplese facing Republican Harold E. Specht Jr., while several other judicial and county posts — including common pleas seats, probate court and an unexpired coroner term — drew a single Republican candidate each.
Conneaut voters will decide a proposed charter amendment dealing with a data center, and dozens of township and village questions fill out local ballots: fire, ambulance and EMS renewals, road and bridge levies, park district measures in Conneaut and Saybrook townships, and a new 1.99-mill police levy in Geneva-on-the-Lake. Because ballots differ sharply by community, the board urges voters to view their own sample ballot on its website before voting.
Ashtabula County voters will also help decide Ohio’s statewide contests — governor, attorney general, auditor, secretary of state, treasurer, two Ohio Supreme Court seats and a U.S. Senate seat — plus the 14th Congressional District race and state representative contests in the 65th and 99th districts, which split the county between them.
Early in-person hours follow the uniform statewide schedule: Monday through Friday, Oct. 19-23, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 24, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hours stretch in the final week — Monday, Oct. 26, and Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 28-30, run 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 27, runs 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 31, is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and the last early session is Sunday, Nov. 1, from 1 to 5 p.m. There is no early voting on Monday, Nov. 2.
Voters voting by mail face firm deadlines under current Ohio law. Absentee ballot applications must reach the board by 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and a voted ballot must be received by the board — or placed in its drop box — by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3, to count; a postmark no longer saves a late ballot, with a limited exception for military and overseas voters.
Anyone voting in person must present a valid, unexpired photo ID. Polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3, are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and voters in line when a session ends may still cast a ballot. The board, directed by Nancy Calaway, can be reached at (440) 576-6915. Ashtabula County is the fourth stop in NewsForce247’s county-by-county look at the Nov. 3 election across all 88 Ohio counties.
