OHIO — Election season starts this week and boards of elections around the state are gearing up for early voting. 

What You Need To Know

  • Tuesday, Oct. 10, was the last day to register to vote  
  • Early voting starts Wednesday, Oct. 11
  • You can request an absentee ballot until Oct. 31

 

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Between mailing out absentee ballots and preparing poll workers, the board of elections across the state are ready for voters come through Nov. 7. Tuesday was the last day to register to vote and early voting starts Wednesday. 

As early voting begins, Ohioans will need either a state-issued driver’s license, state I.D. card, any type of federal military I.D. or a valid passport. In the August special election, many counties struggled with poll workers but without summer vacations, building renovations and more, Aaron Sellers with the Franklin County Board of Elections said that they plan to hit their goal.

“You know, our goal is to recruit upwards of 5,000 poll workers to staff our 307 election day voting locations here across Franklin county,” said Sellers. “We’re well off. We’re off to a very good start and again, we’re pretty confident that we’ll get the numbers that we need for Nov. 7.” 

The Franklin County Board of Elections already has 15,000 absentee ballot requests that are prepared and ready to be mailed out on Wednesday. While general elections in off years usually don’t see high turnout, Sellers said this election season might be an exception.

“General elections in off years are certainly not what they would be in a presidential cycle,” said Sellers. “However, certainly with Issue 1 which garnered, you know, unbelievable turnout for August special action. You know, we anticipate that that will bleed into this November election.” 

While State Issues 1 and 2 are big motivators for voters this year, it’s also important to know everything that will be on your county ballot. Between mayoral races, bonds and levy’s, Sellers suggests voters check out a sample ballot before heading to the polls.

“They can familiarize themselves with what’s going to be on the ballots so that when they come to vote, they pretty much already know, you know, what they’re going to see and we get them in and get them out,” said Sellers. 

The last day to request an absentee will be Oct. 31. If interested in being a poll worker or requesting an absentee ballot, visit the Ohio Secretary of State’s website.

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