Student Voting Project | Ohio

Voting at School

ID Requirements

Ohio has an ID requirement for all voters. Forms of acceptable identification at the polls include: current and valid photo ID which must show your address (but if you show an Ohio driver’s license, your address does not need to be current), a military ID with your name and address, or a copy of a current utility bill (including cell phone bills, student housing bills, and printouts of downloaded utility bills), paycheck, bank statement or government document that shows your name and voting address. The Secretary of State has said that a document from a public college or university with your name and address on it counts as a form of identification, as does a housing bill from any college or university. If you can’t show ID, you can vote by provisional ballot; if you can provide the last four digits of your Social Security number when you vote or if you don’t have a Social Security number and you swear to that fact, your ballot will be counted.

Registration Requirements

Your registration form must be received or postmarked 30 days before the election.

Residency Requirements

Ohio law defines residency as the place where you have a "fixed" home and where you have an "intention of returning." A place does not become your residence unless you intend to make it your "permanent" home. This isn't a requirement that you are sure you're going to live in Ohio forever; it's an intention that at the time of voting, your school community is your permanent 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've already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, Ohio allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the district to attend school, and the only way you might lose this residency is by establishing residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered abandonment of residency in Ohio, some judges or officials might view it as such. Casting a ballot in another state is considered an abandonment of residency under Ohio law, and students who have voted in other states will have to re-establish residency in Ohio if they wish to vote there.

Challenges to Residency

The board of elections in your county can initially reject your registration application if they determine you are not a bona fide resident. You can also be challenged on the basis of your residency in advance of the election. Under one procedure, the challenge must happen at least 20 days before the election. The board of elections must notify you of the challenge, and the board may hold a hearing, including witnesses and testimony under oath, about your eligibility to vote. A registered voter can also record a challenge to your residency in advance of Election Day, which may then be used to challenge you at the polls.

Your qualifications to vote may be challenged at the polling place by any judge of elections, but not by partisan watchers or other voters. If challenged, you will be asked to take an oath and answer questions regarding your eligibility. If you take the oath and a majority of the poll workers believe you're eligible, you can vote. If not, you can still vote a provisional ballot, which will be counted only if the board of elections determines that you are eligible.

Absentee Requirement

Ohio is a no-fault absentee state—you do not need to give a reason for voting absentee. Your application to get an absentee ballot must include either your Ohio driver's license 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).

Blank applications are available on the web site of the Secretary of State. 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. Your ballot must be received by the director of elections by the close of the polls on Election Day. If you have indicated to the elections official that you will be out of the country on Election Day, then your absentee ballot will be accepted up to ten days after the election, as long as it's signed or postmarked by Election Day. Neither your application nor your ballot need to be witnessed.

Voting at Home

ID Requirements

Ohio has an ID requirement for all voters. Forms of acceptable identification at the polls include: current and valid photo ID which must show your address (but if you show an Ohio driver’s license, your address does not need to be current), a military ID with your name and address, or a copy of a current utility bill (including cell phone bills, student housing bills, and printouts of downloaded utility bills), paycheck, bank statement or government document that shows your name and voting address. The Secretary of State has said that a document from a public college or university with your name and address on it counts as a form of identification, as does a housing bill from any college or university. If you can’t show ID, you can vote by provisional ballot; if you can provide the last four digits of your Social Security number when you vote or if you don’t have a Social Security number and you swear to that fact, your ballot will be counted.

Registration Requirements

Your registration form must be received or postmarked 30 days before the election.

Residency Requirements

Ohio law defines residency as the place where you have a "fixed" home and where you have an "intention of returning." A place does not become your residence unless you intend to make it your "permanent" home. This isn't a requirement that you are sure you're going to live in Ohio forever; it's an intention that at the time of voting, your school community is your permanent 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've already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, Ohio allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the district to attend school, and the only way you might lose this residency is by establishing residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered abandonment of residency in Ohio, some judges or officials might view it as such. Casting a ballot in another state is considered an abandonment of residency under Ohio law, and students who have voted in other states will have to re-establish residency in Ohio if they wish to vote there.

Challenges to Residency

The board of elections in your county can initially reject your registration application if they determine you are not a bona fide resident. You can also be challenged on the basis of your residency in advance of the election. Under one procedure, the challenge must happen at least 20 days before the election. The board of elections must notify you of the challenge, and the board may hold a hearing, including witnesses and testimony under oath, about your eligibility to vote. A registered voter can also record a challenge to your residency in advance of Election Day, which may then be used to challenge you at the polls.

Your qualifications to vote may be challenged at the polling place by any judge of elections, but not by partisan watchers or other voters. If challenged, you will be asked to take an oath and answer questions regarding your eligibility. If you take the oath and a majority of the poll workers believe you're eligible, you can vote. If not, you can still vote a provisional ballot, which will be counted only if the board of elections determines that you are eligible.

Absentee Requirement

Ohio is a no-fault absentee state—you do not need to give a reason for voting absentee. Your application to get an absentee ballot must include either your Ohio driver's license 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).

Blank applications are available on the web site of the Secretary of State. 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. Your ballot must be received by the director of elections by the close of the polls on Election Day. If you have indicated to the elections official that you will be out of the country on Election Day, then your absentee ballot will be accepted up to ten days after the election, as long as it's signed or postmarked by Election Day. Neither your application nor your ballot need to be witnessed.

[1] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.02(A).

[2] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.02(C).

[3] Ohio Secretary of State, "Voter Eligibility," at http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/voterInformation/voterEligibility.aspx. 

[4] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.02(E).

[5] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3501.11

[6] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §§ 3503.24-.25.

[7] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.19

[8] ORC Ann. 3505.20 (2008).

[9] ORC Ann. 3505.20(A)-(D) (2008).

[10] ORC Ann. 3505.20(D) (2008).

[11] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3503.19.

[12] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.18.

[13] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3505.18; "When You Vote, Bring ID," available at http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/voterInformation/bringid.aspx

[14] "When You Vote, Bring ID," available at http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/voterInformation/bringid.aspx

[15] ORC Ann. 3505.181

[16] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3509.02.

[17] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3509.05; "Absentee Voting," available at http://www.sos.state.oh.us/elections/voterInformation/absentee.aspx.

[18] Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3509.03.