{"id":205019,"date":"2026-04-19T23:08:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T04:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=205019"},"modified":"2026-04-19T23:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T04:08:12","slug":"hundreds-of-local-voters-cast-ballots-ahead-of-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/04\/19\/hundreds-of-local-voters-cast-ballots-ahead-of-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of local voters cast ballots ahead of election"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly two weeks into Ohio\u2019s early voting period, more than 600 registered voters in Van Wert County have taken advantage of the option ahead of the May 5 primary election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Pam Henderson, Director of the Van Wert County Board of Elections, 565 voters cast ballots in-person as of 5 p.m. Friday. In addition, 94 ballots were mailed out and 39 have been returned so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henderson said that, during the last governor’s election in 2022, there was a local voter turnout of 28 percent, adding she\u2019s expecting a similar turnout for this election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA reminder to voters that this is a primary election and the voter will need to choose which party ballot they wish to vote,\u201d she said. \u201cTheir choices are Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian.  Voters can view their sample ballots on our website<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remaining early voting hours are listed below. A valid photo ID is required to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are three local Republican races, along with some other statewide races on the ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert County Juvenile\/Probate Court Judge Eva Yarger, who was appointed to the seat earlier this year by Governor Mike DeWine, is seeking to retain the seat. She\u2019s running against County Commissioner Todd Wolfrum. The winner will be unopposed in November. Profiles of Yarger and Wolfrum can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Incumbent Van Wert County Auditor Jami Bradford is seeking her second term in office and is being challenged by Arica Wermer, deputy auditor for the City of Van Wert. The winner will be unopposed in November. Profiles of Bradford and Wermer can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third race features current State Representative Jim Hoops and former State Representative Craig Riedel in the race for the First District Ohio Senate seat. The winner will be unopposed in November. 10 counties comprise the district \u2013 Defiance, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert and Williams counties, and the northern portion of Logan County. Profiles of Hoops and Riedel can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statewide races on the May 5 ballot include one for the GOP nod for Governor and Lt. Governor. Heather Mill and Stuart Moats, Casey Putsch and Kimberly C. Georgeton, and Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert A. McColley are the names on the ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the GOP state treasurer\u2019s primary race, Jay Edwards and Kristina D. Roegner are on the ballot and four people are seeking the Republican nomination for Ohio Supreme Court Justice: Andrew King, Jill Lanzinger, Ronald Lewis and Colleen O\u2019Donnell. Marcell Strbich and Robert Sprague are running in the Republican primary for Ohio Secretary of State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those voting on the Democratic ticket have no local races, but must decide between two people seeking to appear on the November ballot in the race for Ohio Attorney General: Elliot Forhan and John J. Kulewicz. In the Democratic primary race for Ohio Secretary of State, Bryan Hambley and Allison Russo are listed on the ballot and in the primary race for U.S. Senator, Sherrod Brown and Ron Kincaid are running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only one local issue is on the ballot. It\u2019s in the unincoporated areas of Washington Township, a new five year, 0.2 mill levy for maintenance of King Cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early voting dates, hours<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 20-24: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 27, 29, 30, May 1: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 28: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 2: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 3: 1-5 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 5 (Election Day): polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor Nearly two weeks into Ohio\u2019s early voting period, more than 600 registered voters in Van Wert County have taken advantage of the option ahead of the May 5 primary election. According to Pam Henderson, Director of the Van Wert County Board of Elections, 565 voters cast ballots in-person as of 5 p.m. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-topstory"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-27 08:19:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205019"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205035,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205019\/revisions\/205035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}