Holmes County’s 2025 General Election on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, presents residents with decisions that will determine the budgets and policy directions of small towns and school districts across the county. The ballot, certified by the Holmes County Board of Elections and verified by the Ohio Secretary of State, includes countywide tax renewals, multiple township and village levies for infrastructure and emergency services, contested school board races in East Holmes and West Holmes, and local-option liquor questions alongside nonbinding marijuana advisory measures in several municipalities.

The implications for county operations are immediate. Township and village councils moved through a series of resolutions in July—between July 8 and July 31—to place road, fire and EMS levy renewals before voters in Killbuck, Paint, Mechanic and Monroe townships. On July 21, county commissioners approved renewal of the Senior Citizens Services levy, a funding source that supports in-home and community programs for older adults. Approval or defeat of these levies will shape service budgets beginning in 2026 when county and local governments set spending plans.

School board elections are another focal point. In West Holmes, incumbent board members Andrew Jones, Hans Ramseyer and Tina Zickefoose appear on the certified ballot alongside challenger Ezra Dye. East Holmes voters will weigh candidates including Julia Klink, Stephen R. Miller and Wendell Schlabach. Control of the two major school districts affects curriculum, staffing and capital spending priorities that are particularly consequential for rural districts managing tight fiscal margins.

Local governance and regulatory policy are also on display. Millersburg Village Council voted July 14 to place three marijuana advisory questions on the ballot, and several municipalities will consider local-option liquor questions. These measures are nonbinding in the case of marijuana and will function as referenda on community appetite for changes to licensing, zoning and business development, potentially guiding future council and zoning decisions.

Election administration followed a published timeline intended to ensure orderly public participation. Candidate filings opened in March and closed in April, the county board certified the final candidate and issue list on September 17, and sample ballots and polling-place lists were distributed in October alongside the start of early voting at the Holmes County Board of Elections office in Millersburg. All precincts across the county will operate as usual on Election Day, with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

For local residents, the stakes are practical and immediate. Holmes County’s small-town budgets are sensitive to levy outcomes; even modest changes in millage rates can affect road maintenance schedules, ambulance and fire coverage, and the availability of in-home senior supports. Advisory votes on marijuana and liquor reflect evolving community norms and could presage changes in local economic development.

Reporting will continue after polls close. Final, certified results and turnout figures must be confirmed; the county will also need to track the fiscal impact of any approved levies and whether advisory votes in Millersburg lead to concrete changes in licensing or zoning policy. The 2025 ballot offers voters a direct mechanism to shape public services and local regulatory frameworks that will affect daily life in Holmes County.