Hillsboro Early Voting Runs Out of the Hi-Tech Center on North High

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HILLSBORO, Ohio — Highland County’s early ballots are not at the courthouse square. They are at the Hi-Tech Center, where the Highland County Board of Elections keeps Suite 200, 1575 N. High St., Hillsboro, OH 45133.

The board phone is 937-393-9961. The fax is 937-393-5854. Mail and absentee applications go to that North High Street address. The board’s weekday office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Early voting uses a longer calendar once the final week arrives, and it adds two Saturdays and a Sunday that a normal office week does not have.

When Suite 200 is taking ballots

Voters can walk in from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 6, 7, 8, and 9; again Oct. 12 through 16; and again Oct. 19 through 23. The first weekend opening is Saturday, Oct. 24, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The last Saturday, Oct. 31, is the same. Oct. 26 and Oct. 28, 29, and 30 run 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, runs 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, is 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and then early voting stops. Monday, Nov. 2, is not an early-voting day. Voters already inside the line when the doors are due to close are still allowed to vote.

Mail, drop box, and who can carry a ballot

The 8:30 p.m. close on Oct. 27 is also the absentee-application deadline. The request has to be received at the Hi-Tech Center by then. The ballot that comes back has to be received by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3. Dropping it in a blue box on Election Day morning will not save a domestic ballot.

The drop box at the board is a one-voter box. Put your own ballot in it. If you are carrying a parent’s, a spouse’s, or another close relative’s ballot, or you are assisting a voter with a disability, take the envelope inside and sign the attestation. The county will not treat a neighbor’s ballot the same as a family member’s.

What clears the ID check

Highland County poll workers will ask for photo ID, the same list used in the rest of the state: Ohio driver’s license, Ohio state ID, BMV interim ID, U.S. passport, U.S. passport card, U.S. military ID, U.S. military dependent card, Ohio National Guard ID, or VA ID. It has to be unexpired. It has to show the voter’s face. The name has to substantially match the book. The address on an Ohio license can be old. A card from Indiana, Kentucky, or any other state cannot stand in for it. A utility bill cannot either.

A voter who forgot the card can vote provisionally and then has four days after Election Day to come back to Suite 200 with an accepted ID. A voter who does not have a photograph because of a religious objection uses an affidavit rather than that four-day cure.

Registration closed Oct. 5 at 9 p.m. The lookup for a Highland County sample ballot or precinct is voterlookup.ohiosos.gov.

Election morning

Nov. 3 is a precinct election, 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., including for voters who are in line at 7:30. The Hi-Tech Center is not the substitute polling place that morning. A voter holding an unused absentee ballot should bring it. A voter who already returned one is done.

Curbside voting is for voters who cannot physically enter because of a disability. Ask before arriving, at 937-393-9961. The board’s listing is at boe.ohio.gov/highland.

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