Early voting hours set for Ohio - 21 News Now, More Local News for Youngstown, Ohio -

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Early and extended voting hours have been set for Ohio and no weekends are included.

A directive from Secretary of State Jon Husted directs all county boards of election to stay open until 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday the last two weeks before the November election, except for November 2nd when boards will close at 6:00 pm.

This election will also see something that has never been done before in Ohio regarding applications for absentee ballots. "It's never been done on a statewide level before, at least by state government, that every registered voter will receive an absentee application," said Columbiana County Elections Director Adam Booth.

Elections officials are reminding voters that to avoid confusion they should only send in one absentee application.

"If they know they already sent one to us they can maybe call us and say, did you receive it and we can look that up. But to blindly send a second one does kind of bog the system down a little bit for us," Booth said.

For some Democrats the extended hours are not enough, including Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Dave Betras. "They're not including weekend hours. That was my only objection, I wanted a couple of weekends in it," Betras said.

Mahoning County Republican Chairman Mark Munore says with all things considered, it will be easier than ever to vote in Ohio this November.

Adam Booth believes there are more than ample opportunities for everyone to cast their ballot. "People will start getting ballots in their mail box 35 days before the election, and people can come here into the office 35 days out and vote here in person," Booth said.