- A rare special congressional election will take place in the 6th District Tuesday.
- Absentee ballots must be mailed today or dropped off at the Board of Elections by 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.
June is commonly a month for summer getaways, Father's Day lunches and the longest days of the year.
But Tuesday from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., nearly half of the county's 106 polling locations will be open for an extremely rare June special congressional election in the 6th District.
The ballot will have the names of only two candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives race: Republican State Sen. Michael Rulli, of Salem Township in Columbiana County and Democrat Michael Kripchak of Youngstown.
Voter won't see his name on the ballot. But independent candidate Christopher LaFont of Bethesda in Belmont County is an official write-in candidate. And votes for him count if voters select the option to write in his name.
The candidates are seeking to serve as congressman for Ohio's 6th District during the rest of the congressional term that ends on Jan. 3.
The seat has been vacant since January when Bill Johnson resigned as the district's congressman to become president of Youngstown State University.
Gov. Mike DeWine set a special election primary during Ohio's primary election on March 19 and the special general election for Tuesday to determine who would serve as congressman for the district during the rest of Johnson's term. Rulli and Kripchak won their party primaries on March 19.
Related:Don't forget about Ohio's special congressional election. Here's where candidates stand
Final June 11 Ohio ballot deadlines
It's too late to request an absentee ballot be mailed to you for this contest. The deadline was June 4.
In-person early voting at the Stark County Board of Elections ended Sunday.
If you want to mail your absentee ballot back to your county board of elections, it must be postmarked by today. You must provide all requested information on the envelope that you place your ballot in and you must sign it to be valid. The board must receive your ballot by mail by Saturday.
Or you can hand deliver your ballot or drop it off in a drop box at your county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Related:Michael Rulli defeats Reggie Stoltzfus in 6th GOP Congressional primaries
Related:Republican Bill Johnson to step down as congressman Jan. 21, begin Youngstown State job
Eleven counties taking part
The district includes part or all of 11 counties from Mahoning County south to Washington County. The district includes all of Columbiana and Carroll counties and the northeastern half of Tuscarawas County, which has Dover New Philadelphia and the Bolivar area.
The portion of Stark County in the 6th District includes Marlboro Township, Lexington Township, Alliance, Nimishillen Township, Louisville, Washington Township, Canton Township, nearly all of Perry Township, Osnaburg Township, East Canton, Paris Township, Minerva, Sandy Township, Waynesburg, Magnolia, Pike Township, East Sparta, Bethlehem Township, Navarre, Brewster, Wilmot, Beach City and Sugar Creek Township.
By law, the state is required to cover the counties' costs of the special election Tuesday.
Most of the district's voters tend to vote for Republican candidate, so Rulli is considered the favorite.
Confirming voter registration
To find out whether you live in the 6th District, you can type your address in the address search on this map hosted by the Ohio Secretary of State's office.
To find out whether you're registered to vote, your polling location and whether you live in the 6th Congressional District, go to the Secretary of State's website VoteOhio.gov.
To be eligible to vote in the special election, people had to be registered to vote by May 13. Early voting began May 14. As of June 3, 433 in Stark County had cast ballots in the election, whether by voting in person at the Board of Elections or returning mail ballots, according to the Secretary of State.
If voting in person on Tuesday, you must cast your vote at your polling location and not the Board of Elections.
Each of the 11 county boards of elections in the 6th District will release unofficial results throughout the evening Tuesday. Those will include vote tallies for absentee ballots received by Tuesday, in-person early votes and votes cast Tuesday at polling locations.
The official count will take place sometime between June 16 and July 2 of all votes, including valid absentee ballots that were received by this Saturday and provisional ballots found later to be valid. County boards of election will share their election results with the Mahoning County Board of Elections. Mahoning County is the county with the highest number of residents in the district. After the Mahoning County Board of Elections certifies the results, the winner will be sworn in as congressman unless a recount postpones final certification.
No matter who wins the special election, both Rulli and Kripchak are still running against each other to be congressman for the full two-year term starting Jan. 3, as they both win the March 19 primary for that congressional contest as well. That election will be during the presidential election on Nov. 5.
Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.
