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Ohio Election Observers: Rules and Constraints

This resource details state and federal laws that govern who can be an election observer, what they can do, and how election workers can oversee them.

Last Updated: September 27, 2024
Published: June 26, 2024
View the entire Election Observers Rules and Constraints series

Written and Published in Partnership with All Voting is Local.

Election observers, referred to as “political party observers” or “observers” in Ohio, are individuals who monitor polling places and ballot counting sites. While observers play an important role in providing transparency, they can also be a potential source of disruption and intimidation. For this reason, all states have a series of regulations and constraints regarding who can serve as poll watchers and what they can do. Ohio’s rules on observers, which derive both from the state’s election code and from guidance issued by the secretary of state, are:

Appointment

Role of Observers

Prohibited Activities

Federal and state law strictly prohibit all people, including observers, from engaging in voter intimidation. Any action that makes a voter feel intimidated, threatened, or coerced (including any effort to prevent a voter from registering to vote, voting, or voting for or against any candidate or ballot measure) could constitute voter intimidation, regardless of whether it breaks a specific rule.footnote23_bTJSFleJC9XYhmWBVqV-WyVMxJCGKAgN3m9OrnIrkGk_qwEP9v5augFr2318 U.S.C. §§ 241, 594; 52 U.S.C. § 10101(b); and Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §§ 3501.35, 3501.90, 3599.01, 3599.24, 3599.26.More information on the federal and state laws that protect Ohio voters from intimidation can be found here.

Removal

End Notes