Ohio has a special primary election Tuesday. See what's on the ballot.
CANTON – Stark County voters will cast their ballots Tuesday in a special primary election to select candidates for the state House, Senate and Central Committee races that will appear on the November ballot.
Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. Voters can check their voter registration status, find polling locations, view sample ballots and track their ballots using the voter tool kit on the Ohio Secretary of State's website.
Voters guide: Online guide available in partnership with BallotReady
More: Voting in Ohio's Aug. 2 primary? Use this voter guide
Regine Johnson, deputy director of the Stark County Board of Elections, said the numbers for early voting and requests for absentee ballots have been "somewhat low," but she hopes more people will come out and vote on Election Day.
"We've been hearing from voters that many of them don't realize that there is an election," she said. "There's been plenty of publicity about it, but people get confused because a lot of people are already running for the November election."
The Ohio House and Senate primary races typically take place in May, but were pushed back this year as a result of the state's redistricting process.
Johnson said voter turnout in special elections tends to vary based on the way voters engage with the items on the ballot.
"If (voters) are not terribly engaged, for example, if it's merely a renewal of a levy, then you might get a smaller voter turnout," she said. "If it is something where they are trying to pass something that they have not been successful in passing, then very often, if there are people on both sides of the issue, then they will often have a large turnout."
No issues will appear on the August ballot in Stark County.
People can vote early at the Stark County Board of Elections at 3525 Regent Ave. NE from 1 to 5 p.m. today and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday. After that, voters must cast their ballots at their polling locations.
Stark County Board of Elections approves three precinct changes
Some voters in Plain Township and Canton's wards 2, 4 and 7 will head to new polling locations on Election Day.
The elections board approved a motion in June to move precincts 4A, 4C and 4D from Canton Harbor High School to Union Baptist Church at 413 Cornelia Ave. NE and precinct 2D to Gibbs Elementary School.
This came after several Ward 4 residents who are Black expressed concerns of voter suppression because Canton Harbor is located more than a mile from the previous polling location. The board has said it had no intentions of suppressing votes.
Meanwhile, precincts 7C, 7F and 7G will move from the Canton First Church of the Nazarene to the Kingdom Center at 2631 Harvard Ave. NW for the Aug. 2 and Nov. 8 elections.
Canton First Church of the Nazarene notified the Board of Elections in June that it would not be able to serve as a polling location for these elections because of a renovation project.
Four precincts in Plain Township that previously were at First Christian Church were also switched to Congregational United Church at 1530 Easton Street NE.
Reach Paige at 330-580-8577 or pmbennett@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @paigembenn.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ohio voters to cast ballots in special primary on Aug. 2
