By law, this Saturday, October 31, is the deadline to request an absentee ballot in Ohio. In practice, it may already be too late – but there are still ways to cast your vote.
Applications for the ballots must arrive at the Board of Elections by noon on Saturday. After that, the request still needs to be processed, and the ballot itself mailed back to you. Jen Miller, the executive director of the Ohio League of Women Voters, says even if it does reach your home on Monday, you’ll have to get it postmarked that same day.
“Make sure that when you’re requesting your absentee ballot, that the Board of Elections can contact you by email or phone if there’s any problem. If there’s a question - maybe you put today’s date instead of your birthdate – they can call you and clarify those and we don’t need to rely on the mail system.”
If you already have your ballot but haven’t mailed it in yet, Miller says at this point it’s probably best to drop it in-person at your Board of Elections by 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Election Day.
Or, you can still vote in-person. There are early voting hours at Boards of Elections this Friday (8 a.m.-7 p.m.), Saturday (8 a.m.-4 p.m.), Sunday (1-5 p.m.) and Monday (8 a.m.-2 p.m.).
For answers to additional voting questions, visit wksu.org/vote.
