2016 Ohio Voting Information

Here’s the information for Ohio voters about voting in the upcoming General Presidential Election on November 8, 2016.
Important Dates
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/Voters/votingSchedule.aspx

Election Date: November 8 - polls open from 6:30am to 7:30pm

Registration Deadline: October 11

Military & Overseas voting begins: September 24

Early In-person voting begins: October 12 - includes the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Election day

**Absentee Ballot voting begins: ** October 12
Register to Vote

Ohio Registration forms may be found here:
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/publications.aspx#G2V

You can register to vote in person at any of the following locations:
At any county board of elections or the Secretary of State’s office.
At public libraries.
At the offices of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
At any public high school or vocational school.
By mail.
Offices of designated agencies including:
The Department of Job and Family Services;
The Department of Health (including the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program);
The Department of Mental Health;
The Department of Developmental Disabilities;
The Rehabilitation Services Commission; or
Any state-assisted college or university that provides assistance to disabled students.
You can also register with an online form, that you will need to print out and mail to your county Board of elections.

Here’s the registration form -
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/publications.aspx#vrf

And here’s the directory, that lists the address for the Board of Elections in each county -
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/electionsofficials/boeDirectory.aspx

You will need to provide your valid Ohio Driver’s License number or the last four digits of your social security number.

English and Non-English forms are also available here:
http://www.eac.gov/voter_resources/register_to_vote.aspx
Check Your Current Registration
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/Upload/sites/ballotTracking/ballotTracking.aspx?page=20547

You can check that your current registration is still up to date or make any needed changes at that link above.
The Registration Deadline is October 11.

Voting Absentee
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Voters/FAQ/AbsenteeFAQs.aspx

Note: Military and Overseas Absentee Voters go here -> www.OhioMilitaryVotes.com

If you’re not Military or Overseas, you can still request an Absentee Ballot. In fact, Early In-person Voting in Ohio is essentially an absentee ballot that you fill out at the Election Board.

You can get an Absentee Ballot Request Form, in English or Spanish, here:
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/publications.aspx#abr

Or you can fill out this webform, print out the resulting PDF and mail that -
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/autoform/absentee_autoform.aspx?page=3870

You will need to provide your Ohio Driver’s license number or the last four digits of your social security number.
The Absentee Ballot by Mail Deadline: Your Ballot must be postmarked by Midnight on November 7

You know what the Post Office is like. Don’t wait until the last minute to put this in mail.
If you prefer, you can drop off your Absentee Ballot in person at your county Board of Elections. The Deadline for hand delivered Absentee Ballots is 7:30pm, November 8

Voting In Person

Those wishing to vote in person must present yourselves on Tuesday, November 8, between 6:30am and 7:30pm.

Use this Voter Registration Check form to make sure your info is upt-to-date and to check the location of your particular voting booth.
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/Upload/sites/ballotTracking/ballotTracking.aspx?page=20547
Please be sure that you have appropriate ID, as explained here:
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/Voters/FAQ/ID.aspx

The forms of identification that may be used by a voter who appears at a polling place to vote on Election Day include

An unexpired Ohio driver’s license or state identification card with present or former address so long as the voter’s present residential address is printed in the official list of registered voters for that precinct;
A military identification;
A photo identification that was issued by the United States government or the State of Ohio, that contains the voter’s name and current address and that has an expiration date that has not passed;
An original or copy of a current utility bill with the voter’s name and present address;
An original or copy of a current bank statement with the voter’s name and present address;
An original or copy of a current government check with the voter’s name and present address;
An original or copy of a current paycheck with the voter’s name and present address; or
An original or copy of a current other government document (other than a notice of voter registration mailed by a board of elections) that shows the voter’s name and present address.

FAQs & Links

For future reading - see here:

Ohio Voter portals -
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Voters.aspx

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/Upload/sites/ballotTracking/ballotTracking.aspx?page=20547

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections.aspx
Voters with Disabilities info -
http://www.eac.gov/voter_resources/resources_for_voters_with_disabilities.aspx

I’d like to remind Ohio Voters -

Tuesday, October 11 is the registration deadline. Make sure you have your voting registration all sorted out tomorrow.

Absentee ballot voting starts on Wednesday, October 12. If you’ve requested an absentee ballot, it will go in the mail and you should probably get it this week.

See you at the polls!

Interestingly, my Android phone reminded me without prompting of the vote-by-mail request deadline. Even Google is getting involved with the get-out-the-vote efforts!

Cool! I didn’t know Android did that. It’s a really useful service.