Residents of Columbus, Ohio braced the rain to cast their votes at the Franklin County Board of Elections as the early in-person voting began in the State on Tuesday, October 7, 2025.

Some of the early voters sighted at the board of elections polling center include candidates that are running for the Columbus City Council and Westerville School Board positions.

‘It’s been raining but we are expecting more people to come later in the day,” said David Payne, Deputy Director, Franklin County Board of Elections in a brief interaction.  

In Franklin County, voters will have the opportunity to vote on Franklin County Municipal Court Judge, Municipal contests for City Attorney, City Auditor, City Council, School Board, Village Council, Township Trustee, Educational Service Center Board, ADAMH, Columbus Zoo Levy, and other local options and tax levies.

“Running elections is about preparation, and Ohio’s bipartisan officials have done the work to ensure a secure and accessible election,” said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

“I encourage every eligible voter to visit VoteOhio.gov and make their voting plan.”

On Monday, September 6, 2025 Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced the launch of a new data dashboard designed to help the public better analyze state voter registration information.

This new data transparency tool allows the public to view registration numbers down to the precinct level, partisan affiliation, demographic information and more.

The new resource is part of an ongoing effort to improve the retention and transparency of electronic election data through the 2022 passage of the DATA Act, a landmark law championed by Secretary LaRose that created a full-time Office of Data Analytics and Archives in the Secretary of State’s office.

“Often government fails to deliver the level of transparency the public deserves,” said Secretary LaRose.

“We’ve changed that in a big way in our office, creating an example for other agencies and states to follow. Election integrity starts with transparency, and once again, Ohio is leading the nation.”

Secretary LaRose, through his first-ever Office of Data Analytics and Archives, has brought unprecedented transparency and efficiency to Ohio’s elections through user-friendly tools and resources to include the following:

• Absentee and Early Voting Dashboard: Secretary LaRose launched an Absentee and Early Voting Dashboard to help analyze voting trends and statistics more effectively during the early voting period.

• Daily Voter Registration Snapshots: Secretary LaRose launched a daily voter registration snapshot portal to provide daily updates of voter registration changes across Ohio’s 88 counties, including new registrations, updates, and removals from voter rolls.

• Enhanced Data Integrity Tools for Election Officials: Secretary LaRose launched enhanced dashboard tools in the office’s Data Integrity Program to help all 88 county boards of elections correct data discrepancies for more accurate voter rolls. During the first 60 days of using the expanded data integrity dashboard, six pilot county boards resolved nearly 97 percent of the issues we flagged. Following a full deployment to all 88 counties, the boards have been able to remedy these records 50 times faster with this tool than they did under previous methods.

• Election Results Dashboard: Secretary LaRose launched the election results dashboard, allowing the public to better analyze past election results and statewide voting trends.

2025 Election Schedule

Military & Overseas Absentee Voting: Begins September 19

Deadline to Register to Vote: October 6 (Boards open until 9:00 p.m.)

Early In-Person Voting: October 7 and includes the Saturday and the Sunday before Election Day.

Absentee Voting By Mail: Begins October 7

Election Day: November 4 (Polls Open 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.) If not returned by mail, absentee ballots must be received by your board of elections by 7:30 p.m.

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