Ohio

As one of the dozen-or-so “battleground states” in presidential elections, Ohio’s administration of elections has been under intense scrutiny from the public, political parties, and political campaigns for the past two decades.  Among these controversies have been questions about the relationship between the voter-registration window and the beginning of early voting, the acceptance of ballots cast in incorrect precincts, and the removal of voters from the rolls due to non-voting. 

Despite these controversies, election administration in Ohio has distinctive features at the operational level compared to the five other Great Lakes states.  Among these is a much greater use of provisional ballots than its regional neighbors (2.4% of ballots cast in 2016 vs. 0.1% in the five other states).

Responsibility for local election administration rests with county boards of elections (BOE), which are composed of four members, two from each major political party.  Operational responsibility rests with a county director of elections who is appointed by the BOE.

On Election Day, polls in Ohio are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.

Sources of Election Information

The Ohio Secretary of State maintains an online voter portal that provides links to information and services related to voter eligibility and residency requirements, registering to voting, change of address, and voter registration look-up.  The portal also provides information about the various modes of voting and information helpful to populations with special needs (overseas voters, voters with disabilities, hospitalized voters, etc.) 

Useful online links to official Ohio voting information that are referenced in this report include the following:

• Ohio Secretary of State elections and voting website
• Ohio voter online portal (VoteOhio.Gov)
• Online voter registration
• Ohio voter ID law
• Ohio voting systems and poll books
• Ohio post-election election audits
• Ohio county boards of elections
• Ohio voter file download page
• Ohio Secretary of State campaign finance website

The following information about the Ohio electoral landscape is based primarily on an analysis of Ohio statutes, augmented by other official documentation.  Citations to statutes and other sources are provided in the text.  The focus of the research was on the election law that governed the conduct of the 2016 election.

Institutional Arrangements

The Secretary of State is Ohio’s chief election officer.  The Secretary is responsible for appointing all members of county boards of elections and issuing instructions on the conduct of elections. O.R.C. §§ 3501.04, 3501.05. The Secretary also maintains the statewide voter registration list, approves ballot language, receives initiative and referendum petitions, and can require reports from the boards of elections. Id.  The Secretary investigates election fraud and irregularities. Id.

Each county’s four board members serve staggered terms, with membership split equally between the two major political parties. O.R.C. § 3501.06. The board hires a director of elections and a deputy director. Id. The director must be from a different political party than both the county board chair and the deputy director. O.R.C. § 3501.09. County boards of elections establish election precincts and places to register to vote. O.R.C. § 3501.11. County boards also purchase voting equipment, booths, and ballot boxes. Id. Additionally, they make rules and instructions, contract for the printing of ballots, investigate irregularities, receive the return of elections, certify elections, and make annual reports. Id. Finally, they determine whether voters are qualified to participate in elections, and establish and maintain a voter registration database. Id.

A directory of county boards of elections is available at this website.

Voter Registration

1. Who is Eligible?

Any U.S. citizen who is 18 years or older and has been a resident of Ohio thirty days immediately preceding the election is eligible to vote. O.R.C. § 3503.01. Individuals who are not yet 18 years old but will be by the date of the next general election are eligible to vote in the corresponding primary election. O.R.C. § 3503.011. However, any individual who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony is ineligible to vote in Ohio while in prison. O.R.C. § 2961.01(A)(1). Upon being granted parole, judicial release, conditional pardon, non-jail community control, post-release control sanction, or final release, the individual’s eligibility to vote is restored. Id. at § 2961.01(A)(2).

2. How to Register

Voters can register in person at any state or local office of a designated government agency, the office of the registrar or deputy registrar of the bureau of motor vehicles, and public high schools and libraries. O.R.C. § 3503.19(A). Voters can also register by mail through the Secretary of State’s or board of election’s office. Id. Further, Ohio now provides for online voter registration through a secure website established and maintained by the Secretary of State. O.R.C. § 3503.20. (Online registration was not operational until January 1, 2017. Id.)  Regardless of registration method, voters must register 30 days prior to the election in which they wish to vote. O.R.C. § 3503.01(A).

Ohio has neither Election-Day nor automatic voter registration.

3. Registration Database

The Secretary of State maintains a “statewide voter registration database” that is “continuously available” to each county board of elections and other state agencies as authorized by law. O.R.C. § 3503.15(A)(1). A voter’s registration is cancelled and removed from the database upon the voter’s death, felony conviction, or a judicial determination of incompetence. O.R.C. § 3503.21. A voter also may be removed from the database if they do not vote for four years, including two federal general elections, and fail to respond to a mailed confirmation notice. Id. (At the time of the 2016 election, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit had prohibited this practice under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). A. Phillip Randolph Inst. v. Husted, 838 F.3d 699, 710 (6th Cir. 2016). However, on appeal, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed the 6th Circuit’s decision, allowing the practice to resume. A. Phillip Randolph Inst. v. Husted, 138 S. Ct. 1833 (2018).)

The Ohio Secretary of State considers Ohio’s voter registration database to be a “bottom-up system,” meaning that counties generally maintain data locally, uploading it periodically to the state to populate the statewide voter registration list.  U.S. E.A.C. Statutory Overview 2016, 10.

Ohio is one of the few states that makes current versions of its voter registration database available for easy download, which may be done through the Voter Files Download Page.

Challenges to Voter Eligibility

1. Who Can Challenge?        

At least thirty days prior to Election Day (for the 2016 election, this period was twenty days, see 2016 Ohio Laws File 82 (Sub. H.B. 359)), any qualified voter may file a challenge with the office of the county board of elections to contest the right to vote of any other registered voter. O.R.C. § 3503.24(A). On Election Day, only a “precinct election official” may challenge a person seeking to vote at the polling place. O.R.C. § 3505.20.

2. Basis for the Challenge

For challenges filed prior to Election Day, the challenger must state the reasons for the challenge under penalty of “election falsification.” O.R.C. § 3503.24(A). Ohio does not provide any other statutory limitations or guidance on the proper basis for a challenge. For Election Day challenges, Ohio law enumerates four separate bases for challenge (although there is no indication that these are exhaustive): (1) the prospective voter is not a citizen, (2) the prospective voter has not resided in the state for thirty days immediately preceding the election, (3) the prospective voter is not a resident in the precinct in which the voter wishes to vote, and (4) the prospective voter is not of legal voting age. Id. at § 3505.20(A)–(D).

3. Voting Process for a Challenged Voter

Upon receiving a pre-Election Day challenge, the county board of elections must first review its own records concerning the challenged voter. O.R.C. § 3503.24(B). If, solely on the basis of these records, the board can determine the outcome of the challenge, it must immediately grant or deny the challenge. Id. However, if the board is unable to make this determination, the board must set a hearing date and notify the challenged voter of the hearing. Id. The challenged voter has the right to appear, testify, call witnesses, and be represented by counsel at the hearing. Id. If, after the hearing, the board determines that the voter is not qualified to vote, he or she must be removed from the voter registry. Id. at (C).

For Election Day challenges, Ohio law provides that election inspectors must ask challenged voters a series of questions based upon the grounds of the challenge. Id. at § 3505.20. Inspectors ask a different set of questions for citizenship challenges, residence challenges, precinct challenges, and voting age challenges. Id. at (A)–(D). However, in 2006, a federal district court held that three of the four questions specified for citizenship challenges were unconstitutional, and permanently enjoined the state from enforcing this statutory text. Boustani v. Blackwell, 460 F. Supp. 2d 822, 823–24 (N.D. Ohio 2006). Generally, so long as the challenged voter answers the questions truthfully (under penalty of election falsification) and the answers demonstrate that the voter is qualified, the voter can vote by regular ballot. Id. However, even if the challenged voter does not answer the questions, or does not prove to be qualified, the voter is still able to vote a provisional ballot. Id.

Provisional Voting

1. Who Can Vote Provisionally?

Ohio specifies several instances in which an individual can only vote provisionally: (1) when the voter’s name does not appear on the official list of eligible voters for the precinct; (2) when an election official asserts that the voter is not eligible to vote; (3) when a voter cannot provide required identification; (4) when a voter who appears at the polling place has been marked as having already requested an absentee ballot, uniformed services ballot, or overseas absentee ballot; (5) when a voter’s notification of registration has been returned as undelivered to the board of elections; (6) when a voter has been successfully challenged (or when the application or challenge hearing has been postponed until after the election); (7) when a voter has undergone a name change without providing proof of the name change; (8) when a voter has moved from one precinct to another in the same county, or moved from one county to another; and (9) when a voter’s signature, in the opinion of the precinct officers, is not that of the person that signed the registration forms. O.R.C. § 3505.181(A).

2. Provisional Voting Process           

After being notified that they are eligible to vote only provisionally, an individual must complete and execute a written affirmation at the polling place stating that the individual is a registered voter in the precinct in which the voter desires to vote and is eligible to vote in the applicable election. O.R.C. § 3505.181(B). Once the affirmation is submitted, the individual may vote provisionally. Provisional voters who fail to provide acceptable identification on the day of the election must produce such identification to the county board of elections within seven days after the election. Id.

3. Counting Provisional Ballots

After all ballots from each precinct are delivered to the county board of elections, the board separates the provisional ballot envelopes from the rest of the ballots, and the provisional ballot envelopes are then stored in a secure location within the board of election’s office. O.R.C. § 3505.183(A). Before opening and counting the provisional ballots, the board first determines if they are valid. Id. Provisional ballots are valid if the information provided by the provisional voter matches information in the state registration database, and the individual is properly registered to vote and eligible to vote in the precinct and for the election in which the individual cast a provisional ballot. Id. at § 3505.183(B)(3). Otherwise, the individual’s ballot is not opened or counted. Id. at § 3505.183(B)(4). Ohio provides provisional voters with a “free access system” that allows them to ascertain whether their vote was counted and, if it wasn’t, the basis for that decision. Id. at § 3505.181(B)(5)(b).

Early and Absentee Voting

1. General Eligibility

Ohio offers any qualified elector the option of “no excuse” absentee voting, either by mail or in-person. O.R.C. § 3509.02(A). Voters submit written absentee ballot applications to the director of elections of the county of their voting residence. O.R.C. § 3509.03(A). The application must include the applicant’s: (1) name; (2) signature; (3) voting registration address; (4) date of birth; (5) and (a) driver’s license number, (b) last four digits of their social security number, or (c) a copy of current and valid photo identification. O.R.C. § 3509.03(B). The application also must include a statement asserting that the applicant is a qualified elector, specify which absent voter ballots are requested, and, in a primary election, state the elector’s party affiliation. Id. Upon receiving an application for an absentee ballot that lacks one or more of the above requirements, the director of the board of elections must notify the applicant concerning the additional information that is required. O.R.C. § 3509.4(A).

2. Regular Absentee Voting Logistics

Absent voters’ ballots must be made available the day after the conclusion of voter registration (which closes thirty days before the election). O.R.C. § 3509.01(B). Voters who cast an absentee vote in person must present proof of identification and sign a signature book at the board of elections. O.R.C. § 3509.051. Once an in-person absentee vote has been cast and scanned into the electronic vote tabulating equipment, a voter cannot receive a replacement ballot. O.R.C. § 3509.051(E). Voters casting a mail-in ballot must mail the ballot or deliver it in person to the board of elections from which it was received. O.R.C. § 3509.05(A). Ballots delivered to the board of elections in-person must be delivered no later than the close of polls on Election Day. Id. Mail-in ballots received in envelopes postmarked before Election Day will be counted if received within ten days after Election Day; ballots received later than ten days following the election will not be counted. O.R.C. § 3509.05(B)(1). If the director and the deputy director of the board of elections find that a voter’s identification statement is incomplete or inconsistent with the statewide voter registration database, they must mail a written notice to the voter with information about the defect and how to correct it. O.R.C. § 3509.06(D)(3)(b). The voter must provide the information necessary to correct the defect to the board of elections no later than seven days after the election. Id.

3. Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (“UOCAVA”) Voters

Military service members, as well as their spouses and dependents, may cast an absentee vote in the precinct in which the voter has a voting residence, defined as the place in which the service member resided immediately before entry into military service. O.R.C. § 3511.011(A). Citizens who are overseas and wish to vote absentee in Ohio may also do so in the precinct in which the overseas voter resided immediately before leaving the United States. O.R.C. § 3511.011(D). The director of the board of elections must keep a record of the name and address of each person who applied for an absentee ballot under section 3511.011, and the kinds of ballots so mailed or delivered. O.R.C. § 3511.08. Ballots from service members and overseas citizens must be mailed or otherwise submitted for return no later than 12:01 a.m. on Election Day at the place where the voter completes the ballot. O.R.C. § 3511.09. When counting these ballots, Ohio must indicate in the poll book or poll list the name of each voter and that the vote was cast with a “Uniformed Services or Overseas Absent Voter’s Ballot.” O.R.C. § 3511.12.

Voting Technology

Ohio uses a mix of optical scan ballots and touch screen ballots, with each county choosing its own voting system. O.R.C. §3506.02. Ohio counties also may opt to use electronic poll books instead of paper poll lists or signature books. O.R.C. §3506.021. All voting equipment and electronic poll books must be certified by the Secretary of State pursuant to the criteria in O.R.C. §3506.10.

The Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners “examines and approves voting equipment for use in Ohio elections. The Board of Voting Machine Examiners maintains a website with extensive information about voting systems and electronic poll books used in the state, including lists of systems used by the counties.

Polling Place Operations

1. Designation of Polling Place Locations    

In Ohio, each county board of elections establishes election precincts as well as polling place locations within those precincts. O.R.C. § 3501.18(A). Generally, there is only one polling place per precinct (and each precinct serves no more than 1,400 voters), although a single polling place may serve multiple precincts. Id. Polling place locations must be established at least 25 days prior to an election. Id.

2. Election Day Officials

Each county board of elections picks four residents of the county as officials for each precinct. O.R.C. § 3501.22. These poll workers must be evenly split between the two major political parties. Id. The board may add officials where necessary but must keep each party at or below 50%. Id. (Beginning in 2020, county boards of elections may choose to reduce to two the number of precinct officials if voting for the precinct occurs at a multi-precinct polling place using electronic poll books.) Precinct officials must be able to read and write in English, and every three years must complete a training program created by the Secretary of State. Id. at § 3501.27(A)–(B). Further, a precinct official must never have been convicted of a felony or a violation of election laws, and must not be a candidate for office in the election. Id. Precinct officials are, generally, responsible for receiving ballots and supplies, opening and closing the polls, and overseeing the casting of ballots while the polls are open. Id. at § 3501.22(A)(1). Two officials in each precinct are designated as “counting officials,” responsible for counting and tallying votes casts in the precinct, and one is designated as the “voting location manager,” whose duties include delivering the returns of the election and all supplies to the county board of elections at the conclusion of the election. Id. Both counting officials and the voting location manager are designated by the county board of elections, and the voting location manager must be a member of the county’s “dominant political party.” Id.

3. Voting Procedure

Polls open at 6:30 a.m. on Election Day and remain open until 7:30 p.m. O.R.C. § 3501.32. To vote in-person on Election Day, individuals must provide election officials with their full name, current address, and proof of identity. Id. at § 3505.18(A)(1). Individuals then must sign their name in a poll list or signature pollbook provided by the election officials, who compare the signature with the signature on the voter registration form or a “digitized signature list.” Id. at § 3505.18(B). Ohio also authorizes county boards of elections to use electronic poll books for these purposes. Id. at § 3506.021. If the election officials determine that the signatures match, the individual may proceed to vote. Id. at § 3505.18(B).

Acceptable forms of identification are described on this Ohio Secretary of State website.

Vote Counting and Recounting

After the polls have closed, precinct workers determine the precinct election results and report them to their county board of elections. O.R.C. § 3505.31. The boards of elections must begin a canvas between the eleventh and fifteenth day after an election, and must complete the canvas by the twenty-first day after the election. O.R.C. § 3505.32. The county executive of each political party, each committee designated to represent petitioners pursuing a question or issue submitted to the ballot, and any committee opposing a question or issue may designate a qualified elector to observe the canvas. Id.

For statewide offices, an automatic recount occurs if the margin of victory is less than 0.25% of the total vote; for all other offices, an automatic recount occurs if the margin of victory is less than 0.5%. O.R.C. § 3515.11. Losing candidates also may apply for recounts within five days of when the board declares the results, provided they post a bond for costs of $50 per precinct. O.R.C. § 3515.03.

Post-Election Audits

By Secretary of State directive, post-election audits must be conducted after each even-numbered year general election and each presidential primary election.  Ohio Election Official Manual, chap. 9, § 1.03.  Details pertaining to the post-election audit requirement are described in chapter 9 of the Ohio Election Official Manual.

Campaign Finance Regulation

All candidates, campaign committees, and political action committees must file regular campaign financing reports with the Secretary of State or local boards of election. The website of the Ohio Secretary of State contains a great deal of additional information about campaign finance in the state.

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