Ohioans have a fail-safe method of reacting to warnings about problems with mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 election: Don’t delay.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office already has begun mailing applications for mail-in absentee ballots to every registered voter in Ohio. Those interested in using the method should return applications quickly.

Then, once absentee ballots arrive in the mail, they should be marked — correctly and legibly — immediately, and returned.

If there are problems, they will be because of a crush of mail-in ballots during the last few days before the election. We encourage Ohioans, then, to avoid the bottleneck by getting, voting and returning ballots as quickly as possible.