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0000017a-3b40-d913-abfe-bf44a4f90000Howard Wilkinson joined the WVXU news team as the politics reporter and columnist in April 2012 , after 30 years of covering local, state and national politics for The Cincinnati Enquirer. On this page, you will find his weekly column, Politically Speaking; the Monday morning political chats with News Director Maryanne Zeleznik and other news coverage by Wilkinson. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Wilkinson has covered every Ohio gubernatorial race since 1974, as well as 16 presidential nominating conventions. Along with politics, Wilkinson also covered the 2001 Cincinnati race riots, the Lucasville prison riot in 1993, the Air Canada plane crash at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 1983, and the 1997 Ohio River flooding. And, given his passion for baseball, you might even find some stories about the Cincinnati Reds here from time to time.

Ohio Voter Registration Deadline Tuesday; Early Voting Starts Wednesday

Ann Thompson
/
WVXU

Ohioans have until the end of the day Tuesday to register to vote in the November 7 election.

Wednesday begins Ohio's period of early voting, for both absentee ballots and those who wish to vote early in person at their county boards of elections.  

"The easiest way to register is actually online,'' said Sherry Poland, director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections.

Residents of all 88 Ohio counties can register to vote – or update their voting addresses – at the Ohio Secretary of State's website, MyOhioVote.com. It will take new registrations up until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. 

Voter registration forms can also be printed out and returned to county board of elections. Poland said Hamilton County's office at 4700 Smith Rd. in Norwood will be open until 9 p.m. Tuesday to accommodate new voters.

MyOhioVote.com also has links to all county boards of elections so that registered voters can obtain absentee ballots.

There are two statewide issues on the ballot, along with more than fifteen-hundred local issues statewide, and important candidate races to be decided, such as Cincinnati mayor and city council. Poland doesn't expect a last-minute rush to register.

"We're not seeing any type of surge in registration this year, which is typical in odd  years, unlike last year, a presidential election where we have quite a surge,'' Poland said.  

On Wednesday, boards of elections around the state will begin mailing out absentee ballots to those who have already requested them.

A set schedule of timeswhen people can vote early in person at county boards can also be found at MyOhioVote.com.

Howard Wilkinson is in his 50th year of covering politics on the local, state and national levels.