Student Voting Guide | Ohio
This student voting guide explains the laws for the state of Ohio. If you wish to vote from your school address, check the student voting guide for the state in which you attend school. If you are interested in casting an absentee ballot in your home state, check the student voting guide for that state.
The Brennan Center is committed to giving students as much information as possible to help you exercise your constitutional right to vote. More than ever in recent history, changes to voting laws are being implemented in ways that can affect your ability to make your vote count. In addition to the content you will find in this Student Voting Guide, a report that we issued last year documents a number of these changes and we continue to track passed and pending voting law changes here. While we are working to give you up-to-date information, we urge you to be proactive! In order to ensure you have all the information you need before casting your vote, you should also check with your state and local election officials for information about additional requirements or regulations.
This voting guide was last updated in March 2012.
Your registration form must be received or postmarked by thirty (30) days before the election.[1] The last day to register for the 2012 general election is October 9, 2012. You may register to vote if you will be 18 by the next November election,[2] and you may vote in a primary if you will be 18 by the next general election.[3]
If you have been convicted of a felony, it may impact your ability to vote. If you think you might be affected, you should contact local election officials.
At School. Students can establish residency in Ohio if they have a present intention to remain at their Ohio school address for the time being, and they intend to make it their principal home.[4] Any other interpretation of the residency laws is unconstitutional. Ohio law defines residency as the place in which your home is “fixed” and to which you have an “intention of returning.”[5] A place does not become your residence unless you intend to make it your “permanent” home.[6] The word “permanent” does not require that you plan to live in Ohio forever; for students, it means that at the time of voting, you consider your school community your home.[7]
At Home. Students who lived in Ohio before moving elsewhere to attend school, and who wish to establish or keep their Ohio voting residency (i.e., at their parents’ Ohio address), should have no problem doing so unless they have already registered to vote in another state. Like most states, Ohio allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the district to attend school.[8] However, you can lose your Ohio residency by establishing residency in a new state,[9] or by voting in another state.[10] While merely registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered abandonment of residency in Ohio, some judges or officials might view it as such. If you have established residency in another state and are moving back to Ohio with the intent to reside here, you will have to follow the normal registration procedures to re-register in Ohio.
Challenges to Residency. Your eligibility to vote can be challenged by another registered voter on the basis of your residency in advance of the election.[11] This challenge must happen at least 20 days before the election.[12] The board of elections will review their records; if their records are inconclusive, the board will notify you and may hold a hearing, including witnesses and testimony under oath, about your eligibility to vote.[13] A registered voter can also challenge your eligibility to vote up to nineteen days before Election Day; in such a case, you will be notified of the challenge at the polls and given an opportunity to establish your qualifications to vote.[14] If you can establish your right to vote, you will be permitted to cast a ballot.[15]
Your eligibility to vote may be challenged at the polling place by any judge of elections, but not by partisan watchers or other voters.[16] If challenged, you will be asked to take an oath and answer questions regarding your eligibility.[17] If you take the oath and a majority of the poll workers believe you are eligible to vote, you can vote.[18] If not, you will be able to vote a provisional ballot, which will be counted only if the board of elections determines that you are eligible.[19]
Voting in Ohio may be considered a declaration of residency, potentially making you subject to other laws that govern state residents.
Ohio has an ID requirement for all voters.[20] When you come to vote at the polls, you must show one piece of identification stating your name and address; acceptable ID includes: a current and valid photo ID issued by the state of Ohio or the U.S. government, a military identification; a US passport; a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document (which cannot include your notice of voter registration form).[21] If you cannot show ID, you can vote by provisional ballot,[22] as long as you sign a written affirmation that you are a registered voter in the jurisdiction and are eligible to vote in that election. Your vote will be counted if the local election official determines that you are eligible to vote.[23]
Ohio is a no-fault absentee state—anyone who is eligible to vote in an election may vote absentee and does not need to give a reason.[24] Your application to get an absentee ballot must include either your Ohio driver’s license or state identification number, the last four digits of your Social Security number, or a copy of a form of identification that would be accepted at the polls on Election Day (see above).[25]
Blank applications are available on the web site of the Secretary of State here. If you mail it in, your application must be received by the county director of elections by noon on the third day before the election; if you deliver your application in person you must do so prior to the close of business the day before the election.[26]
Your ballot must be delivered to the director of elections by the close of the polls on Election Day.[27] If you return your ballot by mail, it will be accepted up to ten days after the election, as long as it is signed or postmarked before Election Day.[28]
As a convenience to voters, Ohio provides early voting through in-person absentee voting which generally begins 35 days before an election and ends at 6 p.m. on the Friday before Election Day (with special provisions made for uniformed services and overseas voters as well as voters hospitalized due to emergencies).[29] A federal court recently restored the last weekend of early in-person voting in Ohio, requiring that early voting be made available through the Sunday before Election Day. However, that ruling is currently being appealed. You should check with your county elections office for the exact dates, times, and locations for early voting.[30] At early voting sites, you can vote any precinct’s ballot for that county.
Last Updated in March 2012.
[1] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.19.
[2] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.07.
[3] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.011.
[4] See Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330, 330 (1972); Williams v. Salerno, 792 F.2d 323, 328 (2d Cir. 1986).
[5] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.02(A).
[6] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.02(C).
[7] Frequently Asked Questions About Voter Eligibility, Ohio Sec’y of State, http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Voters/FAQ/voterEligibility.aspx (last visited on July 10, 2012).
[8] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.02 (B).
[9] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.02(E).
[10] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.02(H).
[11] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.24(A).
[12] Id.
[13] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.24(B).
[14] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.19.
[15] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.19
[16] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.20.
[17] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.20(A)-(D).
[18] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.20(D).
[19] Id.
[20] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.18(A)(1).
[21] Id.
[22] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.18(A)(2).
[23] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.181(B)(4).
[24] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3509.02.(A); see also, Frequently Asked Questions About Voting Absentee, Ohio Sec’y of State, http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/Voters/FAQ/AbsenteeFAQs.aspx (last visited July 10, 2012).
[25] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3509.03(E).
[26] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3509.03.
[27] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3509.05(A).
[28] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3509.05(B)(1).
[29] See Voting Early In Person, Ohio Sec’y of State, http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/Voters/absentee/inperson.aspx (last visited September 4, 2012).
[30] To find contact information for your county board of elections, see County Boards of Elections Directory, Ohio Sec’y of State, http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/elections/electionsofficials/boeDirectory.aspx#dir (last visited July 10, 2012).
