Voting In Ohio

To be eligible to vote in Ohio, you must be:

• A citizen of the United States
• At least 18 years old on or before the day of the general election
• A resident of Ohio for at least 30 days immediately before the election: February 3, 2008 for the Primary election
• Not be incarcerated (in prison) for a felony conviction under the laws of the United States, this state or any other state of the United States
• Not been declared incompetent for voting purposes by a probate court

By law, your residence is the place in which your habitation is fixed and to which, whenever you are absent, you have the intention to return. If you continuously reside outside of Ohio for a period of four years or more, you are not a resident of this state for voter registration purposes, except if you are absent from Ohio because of federal or state government employment, including military service. However, you may still be eligible to vote for federal offices under federal law. If you are a student you can vote from your school address if your school address qualifies as your voting residence, as discussed above. Otherwise, if you are registered in your home community, you must vote in that community.

When registering to vote, you are required to provide either an Ohio driver's license, state ID or Social Security number, if you have one.

In Ohio, you must be registered 30 days prior to the election date.

If you register to vote by mail, your properly completed and signed registration application must be mailed to the county board of elections or the Secretary of State's office and must be postmarked no later than the 30th day before the first election in which you want to vote.

If you do not mail your registration application directly to election officials, you may deliver it to a public library, high school or vocational school, Bureau of Motor Vehicles deputy registrar, county treasurer's office or designated agency no later than the registration deadline for the first election in which you want to vote.

To verify your voter registration status, please use your state's voter verification tool. For additional information, please contact your elections office or board of elections for your county, city or state.

You must vote by provisional ballot if:

• Your name is not in the poll book
• You do not present appropriate ID
• You are challenged and do not provide required documentation
• You request an absentee ballot and either did not receive it or did not return it

There is no provision for a partial ballot. ID must show current name and current address (except Ohio driver’s license or state ID may show former address.) Provisional ballots are usually counted unless they were cast in the wrong precinct. Voters without acceptable ID need only supply the last 4 digits of their Social Security number and do not need to supply further information. Voters without either acceptable ID or a Social Security number can sign an affirmation, and still cast a successful provisional ballot. Voters who can’t or won’t supply ID, last 4 digits of Social Security number, or a signed affirmation must go personally to the Board of Elections within 10 days of the election and supply one of these missing items.

Registered voters who may have ID problems can avoid voting a provisional ballot at the polls if they vote absentee and supply the last 4 digits of their Social Security number. For absentee application information, see section on Absentee Ballot process.