OHIO'S VOTING PROCESS
INTRODUCTION
The Help America Vote Act (HAVA), Ohio House Bill 3 and other recent regulations and technology have changed voting in Ohio. This update provides information about voting and how to assist others in exercising this important right.
VOTER REGISTRATION
In Ohio, all voters must be registered 30 days prior to the election in the county in which they will vote. Registration is a legal document, which is kept on file by the county Board of Elections, and must be signed by the individual voter. A voter's registration remains in effect until the voter dies, moves address, changes name, or becomes ineligible to vote.
Voter Eligibility
You are qualified to vote in Ohio if you meet all the following requirements:
- A citizen of the United States.
- At least 18 years old on, or before, the day of the election.
- Resident of Ohio for at least 30 days immediately prior to the election.
You are not eligible if you are incarcerated for a felony conviction. You regain eligibility by registering to vote while on probation, parole or after completing your sentence. Imprisonment awaiting trial or a misdemeanor conviction does not affect eligibility to vote.
Cognitive impairment or mental illness do not indicate ineligibility for voting. In some counties a person may be declared incompetent to vote by a probate court, but this does not occur in Hamilton County.
You may be permanently disenfranchised if twice convicted of violations of election laws.
New Voter Registration
A voter may register in person at:
- The office of the Ohio Secretary of State;
- Any of the 88 county boards of elections;
- The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles;
- Offices of designated public agencies;
- Public libraries;
- Public high schools or vocational schools;
- County Treasurers' offices.
You can also pick up a registration form at one of these locations and mail it in (see following).
Register by mail
You may request registration forms online or by mail or phone. Mail completed registration form to the Ohio Secretary of State or any Ohio county Board of Elections. Registration must be postmarked no later than 30 days before the election.
At a Voter Registration Table or Event
Anyone may assist an eligible voter in completing the form. (Voter registration volunteers do not need to be deputized.) Any person who helps another person register outside an official voter registration place and any person who receives compensation for registering a voter must return the registration application to the board or the Secretary of State's office within ten days after the application is completed (and before the registration deadline).
Changing Name/Address
The same form is used for new registration and changes to registration, and it must be returned in the same way.
If you have previously voted in another state, you must register as a new voter in Ohio. If you have moved within the state and/or changed your name, you must file the voter registration form with the changed information.
You can change your registration up to and on the day of election. However, if your change is after the 30-day deadline, you may have to vote with a provisional ballot at your new polling place or at the county Board of Elections. It is recommended to make the change as soon as possible after it occurs.
Legal address questions
Your legal address is the permanent, fixed habitation to which, whenever absent, you intend to return.
Members of the armed forces serving on active duty, and their spouses and dependents who left Ohio to be with them, have two ways to register to vote: (1) Maintaining their registration at the precinct in which they have a voting residence in the state or (2) Obtaining voter registration and an absentee ballot under the "Uniformed and Overseas Voting Act."
U.S. citizens living abroad may be eligible to vote a regular Ohio ballot if the citizen maintains a qualifying voting address in Ohio and has lived outside Ohio less than four consecutive years. Ohio residents temporarily living overseas have special processes for Ohio registration and should contact the Board of Elections in their home county.
Armed forces and other citizens abroad can download the Federal Postcard application at: www.fvap.gov.
A student whose permanent residence is in Ohio but who is away from home for school may register in his or her home county. A student may also vote using his or her Ohio school residence address if the school residence fits the definition of legal address and if the student intends to reside permanently in the Ohio county in which the school residence address is located.
You do not need to have a traditional and permanent residence in order to vote. Homeless Ohioans may register using a homeless shelter address or a geographical description of a place where they live or spend most of the time. A homeless voter will also need a mailing address, which may be a post office box, or an address of a friend, family member, or shelter.
Acknowledgment
Within 20 business days after receiving a properly completed registration application, unless the application is received during the 30 days immediately preceding an election, the county Board of Elections must register the applicant to vote. The Board sends an Acknowledgment Card notifying the voter of his precinct, polling location and the identification requirement for voting.
If the post office returns the Acknowledgment Card as undeliverable, the Board attempts to verify the voter's correct address. If this doesn't work, the information is marked in the official registration list. When the citizen appears at the polls, he or she will be required to provide identification to the election officials and to vote by provisional ballot (see Voting a Provisional Ballot, pg. 4). If the provisional ballot is counted, the Board corrects the voter's registration and removes the indication that the voter's notification was returned. If the provisional ballot is not counted, the voter's registration must be canceled. The Board will notify the voter of the cancellation via U.S. mail.
If you recently completed a registration or change of address and have not received an Acknowledgment Card, contact your county Board of Elections prior to Election Day. You also can check your voter registration information online at your county Board of Elections website.
Registration Cancellation
Once registered, you may continue to vote in each election indefinitely. A voter's registration is canceled when a voter dies, moves out of the county or state, is incarcerated following a felony conviction, makes a personal request, or does not respond to a Confirmation Notice nor have any voter activity (such as signing a petition) for four years including two federal elections.
The Board of Elections may send you a Confirmation Notice for a number of reasons including: you did not vote in the most recent Presidential race, your address on file with the Board does not match the U.S. Post Office address or your Acknowledgment Notice or Election Day Notice is returned as undeliverable.
VOTING
By Mail (Absentee)
Any qualified Ohio voter may request an absentee ballot without stating a reason. (This is a recent change.) This allows you to vote by mail or to vote early at your county board of elections office.
To vote by mail or early, you must submit your request in writing to the Board of Elections in the county in which your voting residence is located. Your application for an absentee ballot need not be on any particular form but it must contain all required information, including date of birth and one of the following: an Ohio Driver License number, Social Security number or copy of current identification showing name and address. The process is easier using a standard absentee ballot request form such as Ohio Secretary of State Form 11A. Forms are available online at county Board of Election websites.
The request should be submitted as far in advance as possible but must be received by noon on the Saturday before the election. Applications must be faxed, mailed or delivered by hand to the county Board of Elections.
Absentee voting begins 35 days before a primary or general election and ends the day before the election. For a presidential primary, it begins 25 days before the election. If you requested an absentee ballot and do not receive it, lose it or do not return it in time, you will able to vote in person using a provisional ballot.
For an absentee ballot to be counted:
If cast within the United States, whether returned in person or by mail, an absentee ballot must be received at the county Board of Elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. If returned from outside the U.S., the ballot must be received no later than the 10th day after the election.
(Exceptions: Absentee voting deadlines may differ for special elections. There are also special provisions military overseas and for people who are hospitalized due to an unforeseeable medical emergency on Election Day).
Early Voting at the Board of Elections
You may go the county Board of Elections office during regular business hours and request, receive and vote an absentee ballot in person during the period of 35 days before the election until the day before the election.
Voters with disabilities will be able to use the Disabled Access Unit or request personal assistance similar to when they vote at the polls.
Voting at the Polls on Election Day
Where to vote:
You must vote at your precinct's designated polling place as determined by your address. If you do not know where your precinct polling place is located, contact your county Board of Elections by phone or internet. The LWVCA can also look up precinct addresses for Hamilton County voters.
What to bring:
At the voting precinct, you will be asked to sign the signature book. All voters will be required to provide proof of identity. This is a recent change.
Acceptable forms of identification include:
- Current and valid government photo identification card or driver's license or military identification or
- Copy of utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check or government document showing your name and current address (Note: mailings from the Board of Elections are not acceptable as identification.)
If you do not provide the required proof of identity, you may still cast a provisional ballot.
How you'll vote:
Each county has selected its own voting equipment. In Hamilton County, the eScan System was implemented beginning with the 2006 Primary.
Under eScan, voters are provided a paper ballot. They use a black or blue pen to completely fill in the box to the left of their choice. If a write in option is available, the voter fills in the box next to "write in", then writes the candidate's name.
The voter leaves the booth and feeds the paper ballot into the eScan ballot imaging machine. The eScan scans both sides of the ballot at the same time. The eScan machine uses a digital ballot image to count the vote as soon as it is cast. The original paper ballot is retained as the "paper trail."
If there are any improperly marked contests on the ballot, such as over-votes, the eScan provides a message instructing the voter to make changes. If the ballot is properly marked, the eScan accepts the ballot and displays an American flag.
Voters who have limited upper body control can use the eSlate disabled access unit with jelly switches or sip and puff controls. Voters who cannot see or have difficulty reading can use the eSlate disabled access unit with headphones for audio controls.
Warren County also uses an optical scan system.
Butler County uses Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machine similar to an ATM machine.
Disabled access units are intended to enable voters to cast their ballots privately and without assistance. In addition, a voter with a physical or mental disability, who is unable to read or write or needs translation services may be assisted by anyone of the voter's choice except a candidate in that precinct, the voter's employer or the employer's agent or an officer or agent of the voter's union. The voter may also be assisted by two poll workers of different political parties.
Voting A Provisional Ballot
Provisional ballots are used when a voter cannot be validated at the polling place on Election Day. A provisional ballot is placed in a separate envelope, to be verified and counted after the other ballots are in.
A voter will be asked to cast a provisional
ballot if:
- Your name does not appear in the signature book for an election, or an election official is unable to determine your eligibility. (This may mean you are not registered, a new registration was not received, or an old registration was canceled.)
- Your signature does not match the signature on your registration form.
- You do not provide the required proof of identity.
- You moved (within Ohio) or changed your name, but you did not file a change of name/ address form 30 days prior to the election. In this case, you will vote provisionally at your new polling place or at the Board of Elections.
- Your Board of Elections Acknowledgment Card was returned "undeliverable."
- Your name appears on the poll list or signature book as having requested an absentee ballot. (If you requested an absentee ballot and did not receive it, lost it, or did not return it in time, you will have to vote provisionally.)
- Your eligibility to cast a ballot has been challenged.
If you vote provisionally, you may need to go to the Board of Elections within the 10 days after the election to provide additional information to validate your provisional ballot.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Hamilton County Board of Elections
824 Broadway, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Office Hours: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (Monday-Friday)
Phone: 513-632-7000 Fax: 513-579-0988
http://www.votehamiltoncounty.com
Butler County Board of Elections
315 High St., Suite 1050, Hamilton, OH 45011
Office Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Monday-Friday)
Phone: 513-887-3700 Fax: 513-887-5535
http://www.butlercountyohio.org
Clermont County Board of Elections
76 S. Riverside Dr., Batavia, OH 45103
Office Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Monday-Friday)
Phone: 513-732-7275 Fax: 513-732-7330
http://www.clermontelections.org
Warren County Board of Elections
406 Justice Drive, Lebanon, OH 45036
Office Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Monday-Friday)
Phone: 513-925-1358 FAX: 513-695-2953
http://www.co.warren.oh.us/bdelec
Ohio Secretary of State
Phone: 614-466-2655 TTD/Fax: 877-767-6446
http://www.sos.state.oh.us
SOURCES:
Information provided by Hamilton County Board of Elections and Ohio Secretary of State website, researched by Nancy Forbriger and Sue Gorman. Summarized by Rina Saperstein. Edited by Nancy Forbriger, Melissa Currence and Bette Evanshine. Reviewed by Hamilton County Board of Elections.
August 2006
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