10 things to know before Election Day on Tuesday

Few contested races

There are only 19 contested races out of 45 in Butler County.

Most of the contested races are for a township trustee or a member of a school board, and the remainder for the county’s educational service center or a seat on a village or city council.

Some Butler County residents will vote on some non-county races, including for Sharonville, College Corner, Mason councils and Mason City Schools.

Turnout projections

At the start of early voting for the Nov. 2 general election, Day 1 turnout exceeded the first day in 2019, the last local election year.

Voter turnout for Tuesday’s election is expected to be around 20 percent, slightly higher than Election Day two years ago.

School boards

Edgewood, Lakota, Madison, Monroe, Ross and Talawanda all have contested school board races, as does the Butler County Educational Service Center. And all seven of these races will have at least one new school board member as not all incumbents decide to run for re-election.

Many school districts have made controversial decisions in the recent past, whether it’s related to a board enacting pandemic-related mask mandates, or restructuring which school buildings students will attend.

City Council

Most village and city councils are not contested, but voters will need to make a choice for Fairfield mayor, Hamilton, Middletown, Trenton and Oxford city councils. The race for Hamilton mayor is contested -- current Mayor Pat Moeller is running against a write-in candidate, Jeffrey Neal.

The remaining races in Butler County communities have one candidate for each open seat, and in the case of smaller communities, like New Miami and Seven Mile, there are fewer candidates running for the open seats available.

Township trustees

Seven of the county’s 13 townships are contested on Tuesday.

By state statute, this election cycle will see two trustee seats open for election on Tuesday in Fairfield Twp., Liberty Twp., Milford Twp., Morgan Twp., St. Clair Twp., Wayne Twp. and West Chester Twp.

Levies and Issues

All Butler County voters will consider a 0.7-mill, six-year replacement levy for MetroParks of Butler County. The levy would replace the current six-year levy that expires at the end of 2022.

New Miami is seeking a new 5-mill, five-year police levy, and Hanover and Ross townships are each seeking renewals of their five-year levies ― a 3.5-mill in Hanover and a 3-mill in Ross. Also, the city of Monroe is seeking a charter amendment on how the mayor and vice mayor are appointed.

A small portion of Butler County will vote on the village of College Corner’s renewal request of its 5.2-mill, five-year fire levy.

Local options

There are a host of local options ― which is to allow the sale of alcohol within the precinct ― including one Fairfield Twp. precinct being asked to approve two local options for Casey’s General Store, which is to be opened in the 3100 block of Princeton Road.

Other local option requests are in Hamilton, Middletown, Liberty Twp. and West Chester Twp.

When and where to vote

While voting in-person before Tuesday is at the Butler County Board of Elections, voters must cast Election Day votes at their polling location. There are 87 polling locations for Butler County’s 291 precincts.

Voters are encouraged to double-check their polling location in case it had moved from the previous election. Look up your polling location at elections.bcohio.gov.

To help inform a voter’s decision, they can find out what’s on their ballot before going to the polls at elections.bcohio.gov.

Early voting

If voters have not requested a vote-by-mail ballot, the deadline has passed, but there are two more chances to vote early.

All county boards of elections, including Butler County at 1802 Princeton Road, Hamilton, will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. today, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday.

Anyone who has a vote-by-mail ballot must have them postmarked by Nov. 1. The post office does not automatically apply postmarks, so this should be requested. Voters can hand-deliver vote-by-mail ballots to the board of elections office, but they must be dropped off by 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

State/Region

The biggest race in this local election year is in Cincinnati. Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval is running against Cincinnati Council member David Mann for mayor. The winner will succeed John Cranley, who cannot seek re-election due to term limits.

There are also 35 candidates seeking one of nine seats on Cincinnati City Council. Five of the 35 candidates are incumbent council members.

Cincinnati voters will decide multiple issues, but the highest profile relates to adding anti-corruption language to the city’s charter. Multiple members of Cincinnati City Council have been either accused or convicted of corruption or bribery in recent years.