Voting begins today for congressional primaries in Ohio’s 11th, 15th districts

Early voting begins today for the Aug. 3 special election in Ohio, which features two congressional primary elections and a handful of local ballot issues across the state.

Most Ohioans do not have anything to vote for in this special election.

But all eyes are on the 11th and 15th Ohio Congressional District primaries:

11th District

• The seat is vacant due to Rep. Marcia Fudge being confirmed as the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
• Democratic candidates appearing on the ballot, in alphabetical order, include: Martin Alexander, John E. Barnes Jr., James Jerome Bell, Shontel Brown, Seth J. Corey, Jeff Johnson, Will Knight, Pamela M. Pinkney, Isaac Powell, Lateek Shabazz, Tariq K. Shabazz, Shirley Smith and Nina Turner.
• Republican candidates appearing on the ballot, in alphabetical order, include: Laverne Gore and Felicia Washington Ross.
• The primary winners will face off in the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

15th District

• The seat is vacant due to Rep. Steve Stivers resigning to become CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
• Democratic candidates appearing on the ballot, in alphabetical order, include: Greg Betts and Allison Russo.
• Republican candidates appearing on the ballot, in alphabetical order, include: John Adams, Mike Carey, Eric M. Clark, Thad Cooperrider, Ruth Edmons, Ron Hood, Thomas Hwang, Stephanie Kunze, Jeff LaRe, Bob Peterson, Brain Stewart and Omar Tarazi. 
• The primary winners will face off in the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Here are the other ballot items on the August ballot, according to the Ohio Secretary of State office:

Absentee voting

Ohioans can request an absentee ballot be mailed to them. The deadline to request a ballot is Saturday, July 31 at noon, though voters are urged to submit requests earlier than that to ensure enough time to vote.

Absentee ballot requests can be made by calling your board of elections office, or by mailing/dropping off a completed application to the office’s location. Blank application forms are available online and at elections offices.

Ballots can likewise be mailed in or dropped off — the postmark deadline is the day before Election Day (Monday, Aug. 2) while ballots can be dropped off all the way up to 7:30 p.m. on election night.  

Early in-person voting

Voters can cast ballots at their respective county’s board of elections office (find your office’s address here).

Early voting is available Monday through Friday until Election Day, with additional weekend hours on Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, Aug. 1. See the full early voting schedule here.

Election Day voting

The polls will be open on Tuesday, Aug. 3 from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

It is a good idea to check ahead of time where your polling location is.