Vote By Mail

Millions of us in Ohio — young and old, from cities to suburbs, across race and place of origin — have voted by mail for years. While a powerful few make false claims about mail-in voting to try and keep us from making our voices heard so they can stay in power, Ohioans know better.

Vote by mail is safe and secure. It always has been.

If you have not requested your ballot yet, we recommend you consider voting early, in-person or in-person on Election Day.

Read this blog post about how to avoid common mistakes when returning your ballot by mail.

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• October 5 - Deadline: Last day to update your voter registration for the November election

• October 6 - First day of early voting in Ohio

• October 31 - Deadline: Absentee ballot request forms must be received by your Board of Elections by 12:00 Noon. Don’t wait! Request your absentee ballot now.

• November 2 - Last day of early voting in Ohio

• November 3 - General Election, polls are open 6:30AM - 7:30PM. Find your Election Day polling location here.

• November 13 - Deadline: Last day for Boards of Elections to receive mail-in ballots that have been postmarked on or before November 2.

Two Ways to Return Your Ballot

1.Return your ballot by mail*

2. Take your ballot to the drop box at your county board of elections

*Make sure your ballot is postmarked before Election Day

Filling out your absentee ballot

• Read this post from Common Cause Ohio about how to avoid common mistakes when filling out your absentee ballot.

  • Make sure you include the inner ID envelope, seal it, and fill out all five of its fields completely (Name, Signature, DOB, ID number, & address). Failure to complete these steps often results in a ballot being disqualified.

  • Complete the whole ballot! We are voting for so much more than just the president. Your local officials and representatives are the people with the most influence over our day-to-day lives. Make sure your voice is heard.

  • If there’s a perforated stub on the ballot, leave it alone -- don’t tear it off. Torn stubs can disqualify a ballot.

  • Completely darken the oval on the ballot by the candidate or issue being selected with blue or black pen (not pencil). Do not fill in multiple ovals unless instructed to, or that part of the ballot will be disqualified. Do not write in the margins, or otherwise mark the ballot the wrong way.

Returning your absentee ballot

• If mailing, the ballot envelope must be postmarked by the day before Election Day on November 2nd in order to be counted. However, you should send your completed ballot in as early as possible.

  • Ensure that the outer mailing envelope has proper postage. Note that the ballot will be delivered to the Board of Elections if postage is not used, but we always want to encourage voters to use proper postage.

  • Every ballot must be in its own envelope - do not put the whole family’s in one.

• If delivering your ballot in-person, the ballot can be submitted to the Board of Elections or placed in the official dropbox by 7:30pm on Election Day. Close family members can deliver your ballot for you, but not friends or roommates. Absentee ballots cannot be delivered to your Election Day polling place, only to the Board of Elections.

Can I vote in-person if I already requested a ballot in the mail?

• If you already requested your absentee ballot but for whatever reason decide you would rather vote in-person, you can do that at your Board of Elections until November 2. Ideally, you should bring your uncompleted mail-in ballot with you to give to the elections official, but if not, that is OK under a new directive. 

• If you already requested an absentee and try to vote on Election Day, you can still vote but you will have to cast a provisional ballot.

• If you run into any issues casting your ballot in-person early or on Election Day, call the Voter Protection Hotline at (866)-OUR-VOTE.

What else to know about voting by mail in Ohio

• If you requested by did not receive your ballot, your should contact your county’s Board of Elections.

• To fix something improperly filled out on an absentee application, a voter may instruct their county Board of Elections over the phone or electronically. Fixing a problem with the ballot envelope may only be done in person at the Board of Elections.

• You can track the status of your absentee ballot application and ballot online.