How to Ace Early Voting in Franklin County This Election

I’ve always been a political junky, and so I’ve always looked forward to and enjoyed election day. Where I live, I never see a line. I usually vote in the middle of the day, and it’s easy in, easy out.

However, I’ll always remember living on the west side during the 2004 election and having to wait over two hours in line. A line that was so long, some of it involved standing outside. In the rain.

Did I see people get fed up with the rain and the wait and leave the line?

Reader, it will probably not surprise you to learn that I did. Later, it was revealed many Ohio precincts were deliberately starved of voting machines, causing those long lines.

In 2026, shenanigans over who is encouraged or discouraged to vote have only gotten worse. Voter suppression is in the news again all over America, including in Ohio, where our state leadership has consistently purged voter rolls for years.

In 2013 the Supreme Court gutted a core piece of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: it struck down the formula that decided which states had to clear election changes with the federal government. Voter suppression will be an active tactic heading into the November 3 general election. One way to combat those efforts is by voting early, which:

• Relieves congestion on election day
• Banks your vote early, and eliminates any possibility of something forcing you to miss voting. You might never skip a voting opportunity, but nothing is guaranteed. If, say, appendicitis was to strike you down on November 3rd, well, you’d be glad you already voted, yeah?

There’s some mystery to early voting for people who have never tried it, so I decided to check it out a couple of elections ago.

The process was easy breezy, interesting, and I found it to be sort of mentally relieving to have my vote out of the way early. In fact, over the years I’ve found it particularly pays off every time I read distressing political news.

When you pull up to the location on Morse Road, there’s kind of a carnival atmosphere, with loads of candidate signs and people offering voting guides.

Nobody is pushy though, and it’s easy to park and find your way.

Once you enter, it’s very quick and simple. You give your name and current address and show a photo ID. Technically you are voting absentee, but Ohio law dropped the written application for in-person early voters, so there’s no form to fill out. Any paper you’re handed is just a precinct finder for the person who will be helping you.

Once you turn in your card, a person will walk you to your touchscreen, you’ll do your thing, finish up, and next … sticker and selfie station:

The very best part of voting early on Morse Road? The location.

Ok, I’m sure it’s probably not as close to your house as your normal precinct, but is your normal precinct one mile from the best grocery store in Columbus?

So think about it. Knock voting off the to do list early and then go spend some time wandering around a grocery store so good it’s received national attention. Take a friend and make a whole outing of it.

Good luck. We’re all counting on you.

Bring a photo ID

Ohio requires a photo ID to vote, and early voting is no exception. The ID has to be unexpired and carry the voter’s name and photograph. Accepted forms are an Ohio driver’s license, a State of Ohio ID card, a BMV interim ID form, a U.S. passport, a U.S. passport card, a U.S. military ID card, a U.S. military dependent ID card, an Ohio National Guard ID card, or a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ID card. An Ohio license or state ID with an old address on it still works, so long as the current address is the one in the pollbook. A suspended license also counts, provided it has not expired.

What the law does not allow: a utility bill, a bank statement, a government check, a paycheck, a Social Security card, a birth certificate, an out-of-state driver license, an Ohio Mobile ID, an insurance card, or the registration acknowledgment notice the board mails out. A voter who arrives without an accepted ID is given a provisional ballot instead, and has four days after Election Day to bring an accepted ID to the board office so that ballot counts.

Anyone 17 or older can get a State of Ohio ID card from the BMV without paying the fee.

Register by Oct. 5

Ohio closes registration 30 days before an election, and the Secretary of State lists the deadline for this one as Monday, October 5. Boards of elections stay open until 9 p.m. on the last day of registration, and a form sent by mail has to be postmarked by that day rather than simply dropped in a box that week. Registration status can be checked on the board’s voter information search.

Voting by mail instead

Any registered Ohio voter can ask for an absentee ballot without giving a reason. The application has to reach the board by 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, which is also one of the long early voting days on Morse Road. Applications can be requested by phone at 614-525-3470.

Returning the ballot is the part that changed. Under Senate Bill 293, an absentee ballot has to be in the board’s hands by 7:30 p.m. on November 3. The old postmark grace period is gone, so a ballot mailed the day before the election and delivered the day after does not count. Military and overseas voters are the exception and have their own later deadline.

Franklin County has exactly one drop box, outside the board office at 1700 Morse Rd. It sits under video surveillance, and a bipartisan team empties it every day. The box stays open until 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Only the voter may put their own ballot in the box. A close relative can hand a completed ballot in at the board office instead, and anyone still in line at the box at 7:30 p.m. gets to drop it.

Franklin County early voting hours

Early voting for the November 3 general election runs from Tuesday, October 6 through Sunday, November 1 at the Franklin County Board of Elections, 1700 Morse Rd. That is the county’s only early voting site, because Ohio law allows a board just one. The first three weeks are weekdays only, apart from Saturday, October 24.

There is no early voting on Monday, November 2. On Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, ballots are cast at your assigned precinct polling place rather than on Morse Road, and the polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Anyone still in line at 7:30 p.m. that night gets to vote.

Hours can change. The board publishes the official schedule on its absentee and early voting page.

Anyone who would rather work the election than only vote in it can apply to be a poll worker, which is its own process with its own portal.