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Voting By Absentee Ballot
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Voting By Absentee Ballot
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Ohio now has “No-fault” absentee voting. Any properly
registered Ohio elector may vote an absentee ballot at any election
without stating a reason.
Absentee voting begins 35 days before primary and
general elections and - except for voters hospitalized due to emergencies,
discussed under "Absentee Deadlines," below - ends the day before the
election. (Note: Absentee voting does not always begin 35 days before a
special election. You may contact your county board of elections to learn
if a special election is being held in your precinct and, if so, when
absentee ballots will be available.)
Once absentee ballots are available for voting, an
absentee voter may receive and return the ballot in person at the county
board of elections office, or receive and return the absentee ballot by
U.S. Mail. Click here to find the deadline for requesting an absentee
ballot by mail.
Am I eligible to vote by absentee ballot?
Any qualified Ohio voter may request an absentee
ballot without stating a reason. The ballot must be applied for in
writing. If you are properly registered to vote, you must submit your
written request to the board of elections of the county in which your
voting residence is located. Your request must contain certain information
(discussed below) and your original signature.
How do I apply for an absentee ballot?
Ohio law has separate
application processes, described below, for different classifications of
voters:
"Regular" absentee voters (other than militia, armed services, overseas or
provisional voters)
Your written application for the absentee ballot need
not be in any particular form, but it must contain all of the following
information:
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Your name;
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Your signature;
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The address at which you are registered to vote;
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Your date of birth;
- One of the following:
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Your Ohio driver's license number; or
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The last four digits of your Social Security number; or
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A copy of your current and valid photo identification, military identification,
current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other
government document that shows your name and current address.
(Note: You cannot use as proof of identification a notice that the board of
elections mailed to you.)
- A statement identifying the election for which
you are requesting an absentee voter's ballot;
- A statement that you are a qualified elector;
- If the request is for a partisan primary
election ballot, your political party affiliation; and
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If you want the ballots to be mailed, the address to which you want them
mailed.
Click here to download a regular absentee voter
application form.
Active duty members of Ohio's organized militia (Ohio Air National Guard,
Ohio Army National Guard, Ohio Naval Militia and Ohio Military Reserve,
collectively)
If you are on
active duty with Ohio's organized militia, your written application must
contain all the information required of "regular" absentee voters and
either the address to which the ballot is to be mailed or the fax number
to which it is to be faxed.
Alternatively, an absentee application may be
submitted on your behalf by one of the following relatives: your spouse,
father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother,
brother or sister of the whole blood or half blood, son, daughter,
adopting parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt,
nephew, or niece. Your relative must use the
application prescribed by the Secretary of State (Form 11-C), available
from the board of elections. Click here to download this application. This
application, which must be signed and sworn to by your relative ("the
applicant"), must contain all the following
information:
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Your full name;
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A statement that you are a qualified elector in the county;
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The address at which you are registered to vote;
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Your date of birth;
- One of the following:
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Your Ohio driver's license number; or
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The last four digits of your Social Security number; or
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A copy of the your current and valid photo identification, military
identification, current utility bill, bank statement, government check,
paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and current
address.
(Note: You cannot
use as proof of identification a notice that the board of elections
mailed to you.)
- A statement identifying the election for which
the absentee ballot is requested;
- A statement that you are a member of the
organized militia serving on active duty outside your Ohio county of
residence;
- If the request is for a partisan primary
election ballot, your political party affiliation;
- A statement specifying the applicant's
relationship to you;
- The address to which ballot is to be mailed or
fax number to which it is to be faxed;
- The signature and address of the person making
the application; and
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The applicant's notarized statement attesting to the validity of the
application.
Active duty members of the Armed Services:
If you are serving on active duty in the U.S. armed
forces outside Ohio, you may vote by an armed services absentee ballot if
you meet the requirements for voting in Ohio. Your spouse and dependents
may vote by an armed services absentee ballot only if they left Ohio to be
with or near you.
What is the voting residence of a service member?
That place in Ohio where you resided
immediately preceding the commencement of your service, unless you later
established a voting residence elsewhere in Ohio.
Must armed services absentee voters be
registered to vote?
Yes.
How do I apply for an armed services
absentee ballot?
Qualified electors
who are members of the armed services have multiple options available when
applying for absentee ballots:
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If you are not currently a registered Ohio voter, you may use the current
Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), available online at
www.fvap.gov, both to register to vote and to request absentee
ballots.
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If you already are a registered Ohio voter, you may request an absentee ballot
using a form prescribed by the Ohio Secretary of State (Form 11-A, if
appropriate, or 11-D). Click here to download form.
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If you already are registered to vote, you may designate a relative to request
an absentee ballot on your behalf. Your relative must use the form prescribed
by the Ohio Secretary of State (Form 11-E). Click here to download form.
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens
The voting rights of U.S. citizens living outside the
United States and members of the uniformed services stationed outside Ohio
are governed by federal law (The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee
Voting Act - "UOCAVA”), as well as state law.
Overseas Citizens:
Generally, citizens residing outside the U.S. are eligible to vote in
federal elections in the state in which they resided immediately before
leaving the U.S. if they were, or could have, registered to vote in that
state while residing there, or currently are eligible under state law to
vote in that state.
Note:
Federal law does not require any state to extend voting eligibility to a
person who never has resided in that state on the basis that one or both
of the person's parents formerly resided in that state.
An eligible citizen may vote
a federal ballot from the Ohio precinct in which the citizen resided
immediately before leaving the U.S. to live in a foreign country, even
though that citizen may no longer have ties to, and may not intend to
return to, Ohio. The overseas citizen must register to vote and/or request
an absentee ballot using the current Federal Post Card Application
("FPCA") in either the cardstock or online version. The online FPCA can be
downloaded from www.fvap.gov.
A 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.
Uniformed Services
Personnel: A member of the
uniformed services (armed forces, merchant marine, and the commissioned
carps of the Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration) is eligible to vote a regular ballot from the
voting address in Ohio at which the service member resided for 30 days
immediately before leaving Ohio to commence active duty service.
For more information about
voting by overseas citizens and uniformed services personnel, contact the
Secretary of State's Elections Division or the board of elections for the
Ohio county which you previously resided, or visit the Federal Voting
Assistance Program's Web site: www.fvap.gov
ABSENTEE DEADLINES
To receive your absentee ballot:
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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 in which your voting residence is
located. The board must receive your request by noon on the Saturday before the
election. However, you should submit your request as far in advance of the
election as possible.
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By fax: If you are a member of the U.S. armed forces or organized state
militia, you may fax your absentee ballot request to the board of elections in
which your voting residence is located. The board must receive your request by
noon on the Saturday before the election. You may request that the board fax
your ballot to you, but you must return your marked ballot by mail.
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In person: You may go to the 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 vote your ballot at the board
office.
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In hospital 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 in which your voting residence is located by 3 p.m. on Election Day. To
be eligible under this provision, you must be confined in a hospital because of
an unforseeable medical emergency. Your application must specify where, why and
when you came to be hospitalized. If you are hospitalized in the same county
were you are registered to vote, two representatives of the board of elections
can deliver the ballot to you, wait while you mark the ballot, and return your
voted ballot to the board office. Additionally, you may include in your
absentee ballot application a request that your county board of elections give
your unmarked ballot to a designated relative - 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 - who shall deliver the ballot to you in the hospital and
return your voted ballot to the board office.
For your absentee ballot to be counted, it must be received as follows:
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If cast from anywhere in the United States, whether returned in person or by
mail, your ballot must be received by your county board of elections by 7:30
p.m. on Election Day.
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If properly returned from out-of-country, your ballot must be received by your
county board of elections not later than the 10th day after the election.
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