Highland County Board of Elections shares additional information on new ID requirements ahead of May 2 primary

The Highland County Board of Elections is reminding voters of the new ID requirements from House Bill 458 prior to the May 2 primary and April 3 registration deadline.

See the attached graphic for information on acceptable forms of photo identification.

The following are special voting instructions from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office:

Special Voting Instructions
Polling Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Proof of Identity – Identification Requirements

All voters must show unexpired photo identification with their name on it. The following are acceptable forms of photo identification:

• Ohio driver’s license, state ID card, or interim ID form issued by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV).

• A United States (U.S.) passport or passport card.

• A U.S. military ID card, Ohio National Guard ID card or U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ID card.

If you have an unreported change of name, but you present proof of legal name change and complete form 10-L on Election Day, you may be eligible to cast a regular ballot.

If you are unable to provide photo identification, you will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot. If you do not have photo identification because of a religious objection to being photographed, you may complete an affidavit of religious objection and have your provisional ballot count.

Voting a Provisional Ballot

You will be permitted to cast a provisional ballot after completing and signing a provisional affirmation statement for any of the following reasons:

• Your name does not appear on the official poll list for an election, a precinct election official asserts that you are not eligible to vote, or a precinct election official is unable to determine your eligibility to vote.

• You do not have or are unable to provide valid photo identification.

• You are an Ohio voter who moved from one Ohio precinct to another Ohio precinct, and you did not update your voter registration by the 30th day prior to this Election Day.

• You are an Ohio voter who changed your name, and you did not update your voter registration by the 30th day prior to this Election Day or bring documentation of your name change with you today.

• You are an Ohio voter who moved from one Ohio precinct to another Ohio precinct and changed your name, and you did not update your voter registration by the 30th day prior to this Election Day.

• Your name is marked on the poll list or signature book as having requested an absentee ballot.

• Your name is marked on the poll list or signature book with a notation that registration mailings have been returned undeliverable.

A hearing on a challenge to your eligibility to vote was held and resolved against you, or the hearing on a challenge to your eligibility to vote has been postponed until after Election Day.

• Your eligibility to cast a ballot has been challenged by the precinct election officials.

• Your signature, in the opinion of the precinct election officials, does not match your registration form.

The precinct election official will provide you with instructions on how to vote the provisional ballot. After voting the provisional ballot, you will return the ballot to the precinct election official.

No person will be denied the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot because they do not reside in the precinct in which they wish to vote. However, if the precinct election official documents that you refused to cast a provisional ballot in the precinct in which you reside, your ballot cannot be counted.
If the county board of elections determines that you were eligible to cast that ballot, the provisional ballot will be counted in the official canvass of the election.

As a person voting by provisional ballot in an election, you are entitled to written information describing how you may learn, through a free telephone access system, whether your provisional ballot was counted by election officials, and if it was not counted, why not. The precinct election official will provide this information to you.

If you properly complete and sign the affirmation statement on the provisional ballot envelope, the board of elections will update your voter registration based on the information that you provide.


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The deadline to register to vote in this election is Monday, April 3. On this day, the Board office will have extended hours from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Voter registrations are available in the Board office, public library, Bureau of Motor Vehicles or county treasurer’s office.

To check your voter registration status, or to update your address or your name, go to www.boe.ohio.gov/highland/voter-registration-information.