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

The polls will be open from 6:30 am - 7:30 pm.

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.

You can find your polling place by utilizing VOTE411's poll locator tool. Some states and local jurisdictions provide their own poll locators. You can confirm your voting location by selecting from the following local resources: Ohio State Poll Locator Tool, Hamilton County,

The voting systems used in Ohio are optical scan and DRE.

Optical Scan: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When you are finished filling out all the cards, you may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that checks your card or paper right there at the polling place to make sure you have voted the way you want to and counts the votes.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE): This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what you are voting for is on an electronic screen like a TV or computer screen.

There are many variations of DREs because lots of companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after you have signed in, the poll workers will give you a card that you slide into a device to start your voting session.

Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one big screen. Often, with these big screen devices you push a button next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show “pages.” On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a “touch screen,” where you touch the screen next to the name of the person you want to vote for. Other devices have a key pad. And some have a keyboard, so you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.

You let the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.

Ohio polling places should provide touch screen voting machines and have audio adaptations for assisting the blind. There are also adaptations for voters with lack of muscle control. If you have a disability you may also have assistance by two election officials (of different political parties) or by the person of your choice (except employer or union agent). Poll workers are urged to accommodate voters with disabilities in any way they can. If the polling place is not accessible for you, when possible you may vote curbside. In these cases, two poll workers will take a voting device to the you.