VOTER REGISTRATON INFORMATION ELIGIBILITY

• You are a citizen of the United States.
• You will be at least 18 years old on or before the next general election.
• You will be a resident of Ohio for at least 30 days immediately before the election in which you want to vote.
• You are not incarcerated (in jail or prison) for a felony conviction under the laws of Ohio, another state or the United States.
• You have not been declared incompetent for voting purposes by a probate court.
• You have not been permanently denied the right to vote for violations of the election laws.

You are eligible to vote in elections held in your voting precinct 30 days after you are duly registered to vote in this state. You may request an absentee ballot during that 30 day period.

HOW TO REGISTER

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

BY MAIL
Access Ohio’s Voter Registration form by clicking the link below. You may also use the National Mail Voter Registration form available at You also may ask a county board of elections or the Secretary of State's office to mail a voter registration form to you.

IN PERSON
You may obtain a voter registration form, and register to vote in person at any of the following locations:

• The office of the Secretary of State;
• The office of any of the 88 county boards of elections;
• The office of the registrar or any deputy registrar of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles;
• Public libraries;
• Public high schools or vocational schools;
• County treasurers' offices; or
• 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;
  • Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities; or
  • The office of any state-assisted college or university responsible for providing assistance to students with disabilities.

When you have completed your voter registration form, please review it carefully for completeness and accuracy. You may either personally deliver, or send by U.S. Mail, your voter registration form to a county board of elections or the Secretary of State's office. You, or another person acting on your behalf, also may deliver your application to one of the offices listed above, but you should ensure your application reaches the office of a board of elections or the Secretary of State no later than the voter registration deadline, the 30th day before the election at which you want to vote.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE

REGISTRATION BY U.S. MAIL:
If you choose to register to vote using the U.S. Mail, you may send your properly completed and signed registration application to the office of a county board of elections or the Secretary of State's Office. Your application must be postmarked by the voter registration deadline, the 30th day before the election, in order to be eligible to vote in that election.

REGISTRATION IN PERSON:
If you choose to register to vote in person, you may deliver your registration form to the office of a county board of elections, the Secretary of State's office, a state or local office of a designated agency (see list above), the office of the registrar or any deputy registrar of motor vehicles, a public high school or vocational school, a public library, the office of a county treasurer. Your voter registration form must be received by the voter registration deadline, the 30th day before the election, in order to be eligible to vote in that election.

You also may entrust your completed registration form to another person for delivery to elections officials. However, that person must deliver it to a county board of elections or the Secretary of State's office within 10 days after you completed the form, or by the voter registration deadline, whichever is earlier.

REGISTRATION FORM SIGNATURE:
Ohio law requires you to sign the voter registration form. “Sign” or “signature” means your written, cursive-style legal mark written in your own handwriting. If you do not use a cursive-style legal mark in your regular business and legal affairs, “sign” or “signature” means any other legal mark that you use in your regular business and legal affairs that is written in your own handwriting.

Generally, signing or affixing a signature to an election-related document requires a person’s written, cursive-style legal mark written in that person’s own hand. However, a voter with a disability may personally affix his or her signature through the use of a reasonable accommodation, including the use of assistive technology or an augmentative device such as a signature stamp.

REGISTRATION PARTY AFFILIATION:
Voters do NOT need to declare their party affiliation. Under Ohio election law, you declare your political party affiliation by requesting the ballot of a political party in a partisan primary election.

If you do not desire to affiliate with a political party in Ohio, you are considered to be an unaffiliated voter. An unaffiliated voter does not vote the ballot of a political party in a primary election. However, an unaffiliated voter may vote the Official Questions & Issues Ballot, if there is one for the voter's precinct at the election.

REGISTRATION FORM SUBMISSION:
If the information contained on your application is found to be complete and truthful, the board of elections for the county in which you reside will accept your voter registration form. The board must register you to vote not later than 20 business days after receiving your application and promptly mail a notice to your voting residence address confirming that you are registered to vote, identifying your voting precinct and the location of your precinct, and stating the identification requirements for voting.

If you do not receive a notice that your registration was accepted or rejected, please contact your county board of elections before Election Day to determine if the board received your application.

You may check your voter information by performing a voter information search on the Secretary of State's website. If performing such a search returns the information you registered, your county board of elections has successfully processed your voter registration form. If the search does not return your information, please contact your county board of elections to check on the status of your registration. You should perform this kind of search before the deadline to register to vote so that in the event that the board of elections did not receive your information, or if it is not accurate, you have time to submit a new form before the deadline.

VOTING ABSENTEE BALLOT

All Ohio voters whose registration information is up-to-date have the opportunity to vote in any election from the convenience of their own homes by requesting an absentee ballot. Absentee voting has many benefits — You can vote early, it is convenient, it reduces the chance of lines at the polls on Election Day, and absentee ballots are the first votes counted on Election Night. Voters need only fill out and return an application and their absentee ballot will be mailed to them so they may make their selections at their leisure and return their ballot to the board of elections ahead of Election Day.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot is seven days before the election in which you want to vote. If mailed, absentee ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election in order to be counted. You can also return your absentee ballot in person to your county board of elections before the close of the polls at 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

You can request your ballot for each individual election beginning on January 1 or 90 days before the date of an election, whichever is earlier, but you must complete and submit a separate application for each election in which you want to vote. Your request must be received by your local county board of elections by the close of business on the seventh day before the election. However, you should submit your request as far in advance of the election as possible to ensure there is sufficient time for the board to mail you a ballot and for you to timely return that ballot.

STEPS TO REQUEST AND VOTE AN ABSENTEE BALLOT:

1. Complete the absentee ballot request form*.

2. Once you have completed your application by providing all of the required information print and sign it.

3. Mail the request form back to your own county board of elections. Board mailing addresses are available at OhioSoS.gov/boards.

4. Wait to receive your ballot in the mail from your county board of elections. If you have questions about your absentee ballot request, you should call your county board of elections or you can track the status of your ballot request as well as your voted absentee ballot through the Voter Toolkit.

5. Return your voted ballot.
• If you return your absentee ballot by mail, it must be postmarked no later than the day before Election Day and received by your county board of elections no later than four days after the election. By state law, a postmark does not include a date marked by a postage evidence system such as a postage meter. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) estimates that it may take two to five days for your voted absentee ballot to be delivered to your board of elections by mail.
• If you are returning your voted ballot during the week before Election Day, you should take it to USPS no later than the day before Election Day and ensure it receives a postmark as follows:
• If you use a postage label purchased at a USPS customer service window or vending machine, the date on the label is the postmark. This is the USPS-recommended way to postmark your ballot.
• If you use postage stamps, ask that it be postmarked.
• If you return your ballot to the board in person, or if a near relative* delivers it for you, the board of elections must receive your ballot no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
• If you are a member of the uniformed services or a voter outside of the United States, ballots must be received by the fourth day after the election. Sign your identification envelope by the close of polls on Election Day or return in person by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

Note: No voted ballot may be returned to a board of elections by fax or e-mail. If a voted ballot is returned by fax or e-mail, it will not be accepted, processed, or counted.

Voting help for uniformed service members, their families, and citizens living outside the U.S. can be found at the Federal Voting Assistance Program website.