Hamilton County residents who want to vote by mail on Nov. 3 must submit their applications by Monday, Oct. 26 at any library branch or by 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27 at the Board of Elections.

The Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library will stop accepting mail-in ballot applications at all branches on Oct. 26, according to a library blog post by Rae Vuic, the library's Government Business Relations Coordinator. Voters can download the application from the Board of Elections website or fill one out at a branch before the Monday cutoff.

The library did not specify a closing time for application intake on Oct. 26.

Once a completed ballot is in hand, voters must return it directly to the Board of Elections. The library does not accept completed ballots. Ballots must reach the Board of Elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. There is no grace period for late arrivals, except for military and overseas voters.

Early in-person voting is underway at the Board of Elections office, 4700 Smith Road in Norwood. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, early voting hours on Monday, Oct. 26 are 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and on Tuesday, Oct. 27 are 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

In Hamilton County, 9,482 votes were cast during the first four days of early voting, more than two and a half times the 3,616 cast in the same period in 2022, WLWT reported.

In-person voting requires a valid photo ID. Voting by mail does not require a photo ID, but applicants must provide the last four digits of their Social Security number or their full driver's license or state ID number on the application, according to Signal Cincinnati.

What's on the ballot

Two local levies stand out for Hyde Park, Oakley and Mount Lookout voters.

Issue 4, the Cincinnati Public Schools levy, is a five-year, 7-mill property tax that would generate an estimated $66.3 million a year. It is the district's first new operating levy request in a decade. CPS eliminated more than 100 positions and cut programs over the summer to address a more than $58 million budget shortfall, WVXU reported. In September, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce notified the district it faces a projected $44.5 million deficit by fiscal year 2029 without new revenue or further cuts. If the levy fails, district leaders say they would consider school consolidation, reduced transportation and pay-to-play fees for students.

Issue 10, the Hamilton County Children's Services levy, is a four-year, 4.51-mill levy that would renew the current 4.5-mill levy and add 1.1 mills. It would generate approximately $117 million a year and cost homeowners about $121 per $100,000 of home value, according to WLWT. The existing levy expires this year. Supporters said the funding keeps foster care and treatment programs for abused and neglected children running.

In coverage published in August, Commissioner Denise Driehaus said, "If we don't pass the levy, we go to zero … We don't go back to where we started. We go to zero," as reported by WVXU.

Polls on Election Day are open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters can find their polling location on the Board of Elections website.