Voting In Ohio

All voters must show an ID at the polls. You may show one of the following:

• Ohio driver's license or ID card (even if it shows a previous address)
• Military identification
• Bank statement
• Current Utility bill
• Current Paycheck
• Any current government-issued document showing your current address

A qualified Ohio voter does not have to state a reason to vote by an absentee ballot, and a voter with only a Social Security number or an Ohio license number as identification can cast a regular ballot. However, the ballot must be applied for in writing. If you are properly registered to vote, you submit your written request to the board of elections of the county in which your voting residence is located. Your request must contain certain information (discussed below) and your original signature. You may, but are not required to, use the application form prescribed by the Ohio Secretary of State.

You do not need to submit an official absentee ballot application. You need to request an absentee ballot by written request, and it must contain all of the following information:

• Your date of birth
• Your name
• Your signature
• The address at which you are registered to vote and your date of birth
• A statement identifying the election for which absent voter's ballots are requested
• A statement that you are a qualified elector
• If you want the ballots to be mailed, the address to which you want them mailed

Absentee voting begins 35 days before primary and general elections and ends (with some exceptions listed below) the day before the election. Once absentee ballots are available for voting, you may either vote in person at the county board of elections office, or receive and return the absentee ballot via U.S. Mail, or overnight delivery services such as FedEx or UPS.

To receive your absentee ballot:

• By mail: Unless you are a member of the U.S. armed forces, you must mail your properly completed absentee ballot application bearing your original signature to the board of elections of the county where your voting residence is located. The board must receive your request by noon on the Saturday before the election. However, you should submit your request as far in advance of the election as possible.
  
  
• By fax: If you are a member of the U.S. armed forces or organized state militia, you may fax your absentee ballot request to the board of elections in which your voting residence is located. The board must receive your request by noon on the Saturday before the election. You may request that the board fax your ballot to you, but you must return your marked ballot by mail.
• In person: You may go to the county board of elections office during regular business hours after absentee ballots are available for voting, but no later than the day before the election, and request, receive and immediately vote your ballot at the board office.
  
• If you are hospitalized on election day, regardless of where you are hospitalized, you must submit a properly completed and signed request to the board of elections of the county where your voting residence is located by 3:00 pm on Election Day. To be eligible under this provision, you must be confined in a hospital because of an unforeseeable medical emergency. Your application must specify where, why and when you came to be hospitalized. You may include in your absentee ballot application a request that your county board of elections give your unmarked ballot to a designated relative. A "relative" includes: your spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, son, daughter, adopted parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece. Your relative would then deliver the ballot to you in the hospital and return it to the board office after you have voted it. If you are hospitalized in the same county where you are registered to vote, two representatives of the board of elections can deliver the ballot to you and return it to the board office.

For your absentee ballot to be counted, it must be received as follows:

• If cast from anywhere in the United States, whether returned in person or by mail, your ballot must be received by your county board of elections by 7:30 pm on Election Day.
• If properly returned from out-of-country, your ballot must be received by your county board of elections not later than the 10th day after the election.

Overseas citizens and U.S. military personnel can find information on how to register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Once absentee ballots are available for voting, an absentee voter may vote early in person at the county board of elections office. Ballots are usually available 35 days before an election. You may vote at the elections office up through the day before the election during regular business hours.

Employers are prohibited from firing an employee who takes a reasonable amount of time to vote. Salaried employees should be elegible for paid time off to vote. Specifications of time vary by employer.