Ohio polls close in less than an hour

By: Tyler Buchanan - November 3, 2020 6:44 pm

Pictured is the Franklin County Board of Elections drop box. Photo by Tyler Buchanan.

Polling places will close at 7:30 p.m., though Ohioans who are in line at that point can still vote no matter how many are waiting at that time.

The same goes for absentee ballot drop boxes, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose confirmed Tuesday. Those in vehicles waiting to drop off their ballots can do so even if there is a line of cars at 7:30 p.m.

The first large batch of results should be announced by LaRose’s office shortly after 7:30 p.m. This is when all of the early votes that were processed to be counted ahead of time will be officially tabulated.

That includes millions of early in-person votes, and mail-in votes received by elections boards as of today.

From there, results will trickle in as poll workers close the precincts, pack up the equipment and return it to their respective county boards of elections offices.

We’ll have an update with the first batch of results when the time comes a little after 7:30 p.m.

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Tyler Buchanan

Tyler Buchanan is an award-winning journalist who has covered Ohio politics and government for the past decade. A Bellevue native and graduate of Bowling Green State University, he most recently spent 6 1/2 years as a reporter and editor of The Athens Messenger and Vinton-Jackson Courier newspapers. He is a member of the BG News Alumni Society Board and was a 2019 fellow in the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism.