Follow Election Day events with this live blog, which will be regularly updated as voting proceeds.
Voting for discounts
Those “I Voted” stickers aren’t just decoration. They can get you discounts today on food, coffee, beer and cocktails. Among the deals:
Hot Chicken Takeover locations around central Ohio offer 20% off dine-in orders.Participating Krispy Kreme locations provide free glazed doughnuts while supplies last.The Cheesecake Girl is giving away a free mini-cheesecake to those sporting stickers. The stores can be found in Dublin, Hilliard, New Albany, Italian Village and the Wexner Medical Center.BD’s Mongolian Grill is giving 20% off orders.Stauf’s Coffee Roasters locations – Grandview Heights, German Village, Victorian Village and North Market Downtown – are giving a free upgrade on drinks today.Suzi-Cue Pool Hall in the University District will offer $1 off cocktails and $1 Q Brews from Gahanna’s Homestead Beer Co. to customers wearing voting stickers.When will we learn results?
Ohio polls close at 7:30 p.m. and some results may be known by around 8 p.m. when board of elections post totals from absentee ballots cast before today.
Election results: Find Ohio vote totals here
Franklin County turnout approaches 50% by mid-day
By early afternoon, close to half of Franklin County’s eligible voters had cast ballots, raising the prospect of a record turnout.
As of 12:30 p.m., 21% of Franklin County’s 903,504 eligible voters cast votes on election day Tuesday, said Aaron Sellers, with the Franklin County Board of Elections.
That early count comes in addition to the 245,477 votes cast early in Franklin County – or 27.2% of the total eligible.
Combined, that adds up to more than 48% of all eligible voters in the county casting ballots by mid-day.
Sellers didn’t know how that percentage compared to turnout in 2020, the last presidential election, but said total turnout that year was 72%.
“I think we’ll be in that ballpark,” he said of this year. “It wouldn’t surprise me and we may beat it.”
Turnout appears strong
Voter turnout appeared to remain strong in central Ohio by late morning, as some precincts continued to report lines and waits.
“We’ve had a pretty steady stream all morning,” said Richard Canary, voting location manager at Hilliard Station Sixth Grade Elementary School, reflecting election officials’ comments throughout central Ohio.
An estimated 90 to 100 people waited outside the Hilliard Station site shortly after the location opened at 6:30 a.m. but despite the large turnout, the check-in and voting process moved forward without a hitch, Canary said.
To move lines along, some precincts asked voters if they wanted to vote by paper with in-person absentee ballots.
Voting at Tuesday’s polls was strong despite exceptionally strong early voting turnout.
More than 2.5 million Ohio voters cast early ballots. In Franklin County, 245,477 early votes were cast. Of those, 52% were early in-person voting, 41% mail voting, 7% drop boxes and less than 1% personal delivery.
Weather cooperates with election
Warm temperatures and sunny skies welcomed voters to the polls, possibly helping turnout. Temperatures are expected to hit 80 degrees Tuesday, topping the previous record of 77 set two years ago.
Today’s exceptionally warm weather follows a record high of 75 degrees in Columbus on Monday, the highest temperature recorded on Nov. 4 since at least 1878 when the National Weather Service’s records start.
Just two days prior, the city recorded a record low temperature of 34 degrees on Nov. 2.
JD Vance casts vote in Ohio
Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance voted Tuesday morning at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in the Cincinnati neighborhood of East Walnut Hills, where he maintains a home. His wife, Usha, and children were also in attendance.
“I feel good about this race,” the U.S. senator from Ohio told reporters. “Hopefully it goes as well for President Trump and me as it went for me a couple of years ago in the state of Ohio.”
Voters reported largely uneventful polling experiences Tuesday, though a few central Ohio spots had lines that lasted more than an hour.
Nearly all the voters interviewed by The Dispatch or who responded to a Dispatch survey reported an uneventful morning, though some reported long waits.
“People in line were patient, they chatted nicely to each other, and the poll workers were very helpful and pleasant,” said one Hilliard survey respondent. “I heard many people thanking the poll workers.”
The respondent said the wait was more than an hour, which was echoed by respondents in Westerville, Trinity United Methodist Church in Grandview and in Madison Township.
The Madison Township voter said voting was delayed in part because ballots were slow to print on some machines.
“It was otherwise uneventful. I was the 138th person to vote around 8:15 and there was one first-time voter during the hour I was there.”
Otherwise, voters reported lines as short as 10 minutes at the Franklin County Board of Elections office on Morse Road, and a positive experience.
“There was a long line but it moved quickly,” said a voter who said they waited 20 minutes at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral. “Poll workers were pleasant and efficient!”
How did your voting experience go?
As you take to the polls today, The Dispatch would like to hear from you about how it went.
How long was the line? Were there any problems? Fill out our form below to answer these questions and more. We may use your answers in our reporting.
GOP and Dems head to polls as observers
Republicans planned to send 240 observers to Franklin County’s 302 polling locations, according to Franklin County Board of Elections spokesperson Aaron Sellers.
For the Democrats, 198 observers signed up.
Sellers couldn’t say how many observers were in previous presidential elections or whether this is the most ever. But this is a lot, he said.
Republicans promised months ago to recruit poll observers to monitor this November election.
Observers are not allowed to interfere with poll workers or voters, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. They are allowed to “watch and inspect” but not to touch any ballots or other “election materials.” They cannot take photos, video or record audio.
Observers cannot enforce laws but can report their concerns to local board of elections. On Election Day, observers are required to swear to follow the law.
One man expressed concern in a Village of South Bloomfield polling location in Pickaway County about Republican Party officials near the polls, said South Bloomfield Acting Police Chief Michael Maynard.
The man wasn’t yelling or otherwise causing a disturbance, and left before police arrived, Maynard said, adding that Republican officials were following the law.
“He was upset about the official Republican Party representatives that are on the property, however, they are beyond the 100-foot line, away from the polling location,” Maynard said. “And they’re not approaching electors or anything like that. They’re not soliciting.”
Watch for long voting lines
Several central Ohio precincts reported long lines Tuesday morning, despite heavy early voting.
Voting at Indianola Church of Christ in the University District is typically an in-and-out experience. This year though, voters wrapped around the basement of the campus-area church for nearly 25 minutes waiting for a machine. A mix of university students and nearby residents patiently waited to cast their votes. One of the poll workers told those waiting that they could use a paper ballot instead of waiting for a machine, but everyone stayed put.
At Victory Hill Church in Greenfield Township in Fairfield County, about 30 people were in line when polls opened at 6:30 according to Bob Huffman, the voting location’s manager.
“It’s great to see people exercising their rights,” he said.
Huffman said the morning was busy the four precincts in the church were running well.
Polls open
Polls opened at 6:30 this morning, allowing millions of Ohioans to cast votes for president, senator, representatives and hundreds of local races across the state. Polls will remain open until 7:30 tonight.
In addition to the presidential contest featuring former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris, Ohioans will decide between incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican businessman Bernie Moreno for U.S. Senate, in what is the most expensive non-presidential race in U.S. history.
Other statewide issues include three Ohio Supreme Court justice seats and Issue 1, which would change how maps are drawn for congressional and Statehouse districts.
Voters will decide the fate of several central Ohio races including a proposal to raise sales tax by half a percent (from 0.5% to 1.0%) in the area serviced by Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) to fund mass-transit improvements known as LinkUS.
What you need to vote
Rules to vote have changed, requiring Ohioans to show valid photo identification at the polls. Acceptable i.d.s are:
Ohio driver’s license (It does not need to list the address where you are registered to vote.)Ohio state ID cardU.S. passport or passport cardMilitary identification issued by the Ohio National Guard or U.S. governmentU.S. Veterans Affairs ID cardInterim identification form issued by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV)
Those without valid ID will be asked to vote with a provisional ballot.
Look for updates to this live election blog throughout the day.
Dispatch reporters Mark Williams, Bob Vitale, Sheridan Hendrix, Bailey Gallion, Danae King, Nathan Hart, Belinda Paschal, Sophia Veneziano and Barbara Perenic contributed to this report.
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