Ohio Elections
2025 Ohio Election
General Election: Tuesday, November 4th
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Voter Registration Deadline — October 6, 2025
Military & Overseas Voting — September 19 - November 3
Early In-Person Voting — October 7 - November 2, at local Boards of Elections (BOE)
Absentee Mail-In Voting — October 7 - November 3, postmark ballot by November 4
Absentee Drop-Off Voting — October 7 - November 5, drop off ballot at board of elections by Nov 5, 7:30pm
Election Day — Tuesday, November 4, 2025 -- Polls Open from 6:30am-7:30pm
Voting in Ohio
Register to vote, update your voter registration, or check your voter registration!
Check your voter registration information every election cycle to ensure your information is current and accurate. Have you moved, changed your name, changed your signature?
IMPORTANT: Have you been PURGED from the Ohio voter rolls?
The Ohio Secretary of State Office routinely purges inactive voters from the Ohio voter rolls. If you did not vote in the last election or have not voted in several elections, check your voter registration NOW to ensure you have not been purged. If you have been purged, simply register again.
Ways to Vote
Early In-Person Voting
WHEN: Begins 4 weeks before Election Day, dates & times vary
WHERE: Local Boards of Elections
HOW: Bring required voter ID to your local Board of Elections
(bring your sample ballot, too!)
Absentee Mail-In Voting
WHEN: Begins 4 weeks before Election Day, request your Ballot NOW
WHERE: Vote by mail from home, school, work, abroad, anywhere
HOW:
Submit an Absentee Ballot Request Form
Upon receipt, complete and return your Absentee Ballot by the deadline
Ballots must be postmarked at least 1 day before Election Day or dropped off at local Board of Elections by 7:30pm on Election Day
Election Day Voting
WHEN: Election Day, Polls Open 6:30am-7:30pm
WHERE: Designated polling locations (check your polling location ahead of Election Day)
HOW: Bring required voter ID to your designated polling location (bring your sample ballot, too!)
Researching Candidates and Issues
Research Checklist
Campaign website and social media accounts
Campaign endorsements and affiliations
Candidate interviews: Visit Vote411.org to read unedited responses to candidate questions
News coverage (TV, radio, newspapers, letters to the editor, blogs, podcasts, candidate profiles, etc.)
Place of employment
Resume or curriculum vitae
Lawsuits, litigation, criminal background, registries
Personal social media accounts and blogs
Personal affiliations (boards, committees, memberships, volunteer work, etc.)
Attend Voter Education Events
Candidate forums, debates, town halls, meet and greets, etc
Helpful Considerations
What are their values and priorities? What education issues are most important to them?
Are their work, expertise, or experiences value-added?
What do their endorsements and affiliations reflect about their beliefs?
Personalized Sample Ballot
Create and print a personalized sample ballot to use when you vote
Resources
Honesty for Ohio Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and, as such, does not endorse or support candidates in any election. The following list includes organizations and consultants who have requested to be featured on this resource page. While some of these resources are affiliated with Honesty’s formal partners, Honesty does not evaluate, approve, or endorse any of the listed programs.
LEAD Ohio
LEAD Ohio fills a unique need in Ohio’s progressive infrastructure. We are the only organization that conducts year round recruiting, training, connecting, and supporting of potential candidates and their staff no matter what level of office they may seek in Ohio. We are proud to have graduated more than 450 "LEADers" from our flagship Campaign Academy training program, many of whom have gone on to run for and win election to everything from State Legislature to Township Trustee. We have also provided training and support to thousands more candidates, staffers, and activists through virtual webinars, weekend campaign bootcamps, and programming specially designed for women interested in civic leadership. We are a 501(c)(4) nonpartisan non-profit organization based out of Columbus, Ohio, and our sister organization, LEAD Ohio Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization also runs programming. We do not charge for our training and support programs in an effort to make this space as inclusive as possible. Although our Campaign Academy is full for this year, we are planning to offer the following programs in the coming months:
Women LEADing Ohio "Pow-Her to Launch" virtual program for women candidates starting their campaigns for elected office. Sessions will likely be held in late March and April.
Women's Progressive LEADership Circles support programs for women actively running for office this year. Applications will open in April and program will meet once a month in a hybrid in-person and virtual model from June-November. Cohorts are small, a dozen women or less.
LEAD Ohio Campaign Skills Bootcamp, which will be a full day weekend program providing essential skills and tools for building an effective campaign. Bootcamps will likely be held in May and June.
Additional virtual webinars on topics of interest will be announced as they are built
LEAD newsletters include a Candidate Corner with additional information on endorsements and trainings
General candidate support available through early summer; August and September “Hot Topics” trainings on school board races
To sign up for our mailing list to get all the information about LEAD Ohio programs, visit us at https://www.leadohio.org/contact and complete the form.