Voting in
Ohio

Upcoming Election Dates & Deadlines

Upcoming Election: Primary Election

Election Day: November 5, 2024

Registration Deadline: October 7, 2024

Vote By Mail: yes

Vote By Mail Deadline: October 7, 2024

Early Voting: October 8 - 3, 2024

How to vote in Ohio

Ohio's election schedule

Ohio's Election Overview

Ohioans can register to vote online, by mail, or in person. Voting can be done in person or by absentee ballot. Don’t forget to bring a photo ID if you’re voting in person.

Important Voting Links for Ohio

How to vote in Ohio

Absentee Ballot Process

Absentee voting is available and no excuse is required. The last day to request an absentee ballot is 7 days before the election. You can return your absentee ballot request form through the mail or in person. Absentee ballots must be received before the close of the polls on Election Day or postmarked no later than the day before an election and received no later than four days after the close of the polls. You can sign up to track your absentee ballot on your Secretary of State website. Absentee ballots begin being counted on Election Day. Contact your Secretary of State for more information. Note: You must use the Secretary of State’s official absentee ballot application form. Under previous law, applications were accepted in any form, as long as all the required information was included. Absentee voting begins 29 days before an election. Absentee ballots must be received before the close of the polls on election day, or postmarked no later than the day before an election and received no later than four days after the close of the polls. 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 7 days before the election. However, you should submit your request as far in advance of the election as possible.

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.

All voters who requested an absentee ballot, but end up voting in person: If you would like to vote at the county Early Vote Center you can during the Early Voting period (and you can vote a regular ballot). If you would like to vote on Election Day you can, but you will have to vote a provisional ballot. You will be asked for your absentee ballot during Early Voting, but if you do not have it with you, you can still vote a regular ballot. For more information please contact your Secretary of State. HOSPITALIZED VOTERS 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. 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.

Drop Boxes

Each county in Ohio has one drop box that allows voters to return their Absentee Ballot Requests and Absentee Ballots at their Board of Elections in-person. Absentee Ballots must be dropped off at your Board of Elections no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Click here to find the address of your Board of Elections. You can track the status of your ballot request as well as your voted absentee ballot through the Voter Toolkit.

Early Voting

Early (in-person absentee ballot) voting starts 28 days before the election. All registered voters may request and vote an absentee ballot in person at their county board of elections or voting center as designated by the county. Note: Beginning in 2023, early voting will no longer be available on the Monday before Election Day. To find the early voting hours in your county, please click here. For specific information on times and locations, contact your board of elections.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to vote 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
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
You haven’t been permanently disenfranchised for violating the election laws

ID Needed for Voter Registration

You may register to vote online, in person or by mail. Online To register online you will need to provide the following:

Ohio driver’s license or Ohio identification card number
Name
Date of Birth
Address
Last four digits of your Social Security number

If you do not have any portion of the required information, follow this link to update your voting address using our paper form (PDF). Once you complete this form, you must sign and send it to your county board of elections . If you are a Safe at Home participant, before you proceed, please follow this link to contact the Safe at Home office.

ID Needed for Voting

You must provide proof of ID to vote. The forms of identification that may be used include:

An unexpired Ohio driver’s license or state identification card with a present or former address so long as your present residential address is printed in the official list of registered voters for that precinct;
U.S. military IDs, including Ohio National Guard
A photo identification that was issued by the United States government or the State of Ohio that contains your name and current address and that has an expiration date that has not passed;
- BMV issued Ohio license or ID card (old address acceptable)
- U.S. Military, U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs, or Ohio National Guard card, U.S. Passport Book/Card
- Note: State University IDs are not a valid form of photo ID to vote
Probationary and restricted driver’s licenses are permitted

Note: You can no longer substitute a valid photo ID with a utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document containing your name and address. If you do not have a valid photo ID at the polls, you may vote a provisional ballot. For that ballot to be counted, you must present a photo ID at the office of the Board of Elections no later than the fourth day after Election Day. Individual exceptions to the Voter ID rules may be made for religious reasons. Voters can call or text 844-338-8743 at any time to reach VoteRiders Voter ID Helpline

Overseas and Military Voting

You are a Military or Overseas voter if you are in uniformed services, living overseas OR a spouse or dependent of a uniformed services voter. To get registered and vote, you can utilize Overseas Vote Foundation. If you have additional questions about elections and voting overseas you can use our state specific elections official directory or contact the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Primary Election Process

Ohio is a “partially open” primary state. This allows voters to vote in another parties primary. You are asked to choose your party when you register to vote, however, you are able to publicly change your party affiliation in order to vote in your selected parties primary election. If you have any questions about your state’s primary election, please contact your local election officials.

Provisional Voting

A provisional ballot is used to record a vote if the voter’s eligibility is in question and the voter would otherwise not be allowed to vote. There are several scenarios where a voter may cast a provisional ballot:

Your name does not appear on the official poll list for the precinct or an election official asserts that you are not eligible to vote or is unable to determine your eligibility
You are unable or decline to provide the required proof of identity
Your name appears on the official poll list for that precinct as having already requested an absentee ballot
Your name is marked on the poll list or signature book with a notation that certain registration mailings have been returned as undeliverable.
A hearing on a challenge to your eligibility as an elector has been postponed until after Election Day.
In the opinion of the precinct officers, your signature does not match the signature on your registration form.
Your eligibility to cast a ballot has been challenged by the precinct officials.

Before your provisional ballot can be included in the official count of an election, the board of elections must confirm your eligibility to cast the ballot and the validity of the ballot you cast. If you cast a provisional ballot and provided acceptable proof of identity, you typically do not need to provide any additional information. However, if you cast a provisional ballot and did not provide acceptable proof of identity at the time of voting, you must appear in person at the Board of Elections no later than seven days following the election to provide such proof within the 4 days immediately following Election Day. Acceptable proof of identity includes:

Current and valid photo ID
A military identification
The last four digits of your Social Security number

Provisional ballots are counted until the 8th day after Election Day or until any hearing required under State Law with regard to the provisional voter is held, whichever is earlier. The counting of absentee ballots begins on the 5th day following an election.

Provisions for Voters with Disabilities

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, you may vote a ballot from your vehicle at all polling places. For more information, you can utilize the American Association of People With Disabilities (AAPD) resource or your state resource.

Voting Machines

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. You can learn more about voting systems by checking out the Elections Assistance Commission’s (EAC) resource.