Early voting begins for May 2 primary/special election

Early voting has begun for the May 2 primary/special election in Ohio for the 67 counties that have local candidates and issues on their ballots. 

Early voting begins the day after the close of voter registration, and registered voters may cast an early in-person ballot at their county board of elections.

Ohio is among the nation’s leaders in ballot access by providing 199 hours for in-person early voting, adding an additional, convenient option for Ohioans to cast their ballot for the upcoming primary. Ohio is one of 19 states that allows voting on a Saturday and one of just six states that allows early voting on a Sunday.

Ohio’s early voting period is 21-percent longer than the national average. Ohioans can learn more about the early voting schedule and the hours of county board operations at https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/current-voting-schedule/.

“Ohioans can be proud of the fact that our state is considered the gold standard for how we administer elections, as we make voting accessible and convenient, while ensuring confidence in the results because they are secure from fraud,” said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. “In Ohio, we make it easy to vote and hard to cheat, and early voting is another feature of our election system that makes voting accessible to every registered voter.”

In December of 2022, the legislature passed House Bill 458 to modernize and strengthen how elections are administered in Ohio.

To further enhance election security and guard against fraud, the new law requires voters to provide an Ohio or federally issued photo identification on Election Day. The photo ID requirement is supported by a vast majority of Ohioans. Based on our surveys of the county BOE’s and going back many years, 98 percent of Ohioans have shown a photo ID for early voting.

For those few who may not have a photo ID, beginning Friday, April 7, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles will begin providing a state photo ID free of cost to any Ohioan who wants one.

The bill also eliminated early voting hours on the Monday before Election Day but reallocated those hours to days earlier in the month to make it more convenient for the early voter. This change in law has been supported for years by bipartisan election officials, as the Monday before the Tuesday election is better utilized by the county boards in completing the myriad preparations and requirements necessary for them to execute on the following day.

Ohioans voting absentee should be aware that HB 458 also shortened the window for county boards of elections to accept mailed in ballots following Election Day from 10 days to four.

In addition, it moved the deadline to request an absentee ballot from the Saturday before Election Day to seven days out from the election, providing adequate time for processing ballot applications and preventing voters from inadvertently disenfranchising themselves by applying for an application too close to the Tuesday election.

As always, the best resource for all election information can be found at VoteOhio.gov.