The calendar is already tight for Lorain County voters ahead of the May 5 primary, and the clock is very much running. Voter registration closed Monday, April 6, and early in-person voting at the county Board of Elections office in Lorain kicked off Tuesday, April 7. That early voting window runs straight through Sunday, May 3. If you are planning to vote by mail, your application for an absentee ballot has to arrive at the board by Tuesday, April 28 at 8:30 p.m., and completed absentee ballots must be in the board’s hands by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Polls on Tuesday, May 5 will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Key dates and deadlines
If you are mapping out your voting plan, the core dates are already locked in. Voter registration closed on April 6, and early in-person voting began April 7 and continues through May 3. The cut-off to request a ballot by mail is April 28 at 8:30 p.m., and that deadline is firm. Those times appear on the county’s official early-voting calendar, according to the Lorain County Board of Elections.
Where to vote early and what hours to expect
Early in-person voting is not scattered around the county. It is centralized at the Lorain County Board of Elections office, located at 1985 North Ridge Road East in Lorain. The state’s VoteOhio information notes that Ohio offers more than four weeks of early voting, with evening and weekend hours built in so voters are not forced to squeeze everything into a single workday lunch break. The same site reminds residents that polls on Election Day, May 5, will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., according to the Ohio Secretary of State.
Ballot returns, curing and Election Day
For absentee voters, timing matters just as much. Ballots must be in the possession of the Lorain County Board of Elections by 7:30 p.m. on May 5 to be counted. That means if you are mailing your ballot, you need to leave enough time for postal delivery, or you can skip the suspense and use an official drop box. After Election Day, the board will open a short window to “cure” absentee ballots, which is when staff work with voters to fix problems like incomplete information or signature mismatches on the envelope. The office will handle ballot curing from May 6 through May 9, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For a list of local drop-box sites, the curing schedule and the full office hours, voters can check the county calendar posted by the Lorain County Board of Elections.
City of Elyria shared the reminder
City officials are doing their part to keep the dates from sneaking up on anyone. On April 16, the City of Elyria shared a short “Great voter information” post that reposted the Board of Elections calendar for residents. The city’s update called out the early-voting site and the ballot-curing window so people would know where to go and when, and it pointed readers back to the official county schedule and hours as published by the City of Elyria on Facebook.
Track your ballot and get local help
Voters who want to double-check that everything is in order do not have to guess. You can verify your registration or check on the status of an absentee ballot through the state’s Track Your Ballot tool, or pick up the phone and call the Lorain County Board of Elections at 440-326-5900 for local assistance. The Secretary of State’s office maintains an online, county-by-county ballot-tracking directory that links directly to Lorain County’s page, according to the Ohio Secretary of State.
