Election 2024 Information for Athens, OH

Voter Registration

Registration Deadline: You must register or update your voter registration no later than 30 days prior to an election. Click here to see the deadlines for upcoming elections. If you register or update your information after the deadline, the change will apply for the next election.

Voter Registration Qualifications

Age: Must be at least 18 years old on or before the day of the general election. If you will be 18 on or before the general election, you may vote in the primary election to nominate candidates, but you cannot vote on issues or party central committees until you are 18.

Citizenship: Must be a United States citizen

Residency: Must be a resident of Ohio at least 30 days immediately before the election in which you want to vote.

Mental Competency: Not declared incompetent for voting purposes by a probate court

Felony Convictions: Not incarcerated (in prison or jail) for a felony conviction under the laws of Ohio, another state, or the United States. If you have twice been convicted of a violation of Ohio's elections laws, you are permanently barred from voting in Ohio. Your voter registration is canceled once you are incarcerated on a felony conviction, so you must re-register.

Obtaining a Voter Registration Form

Online: Ohio voter registration

To register online you will need to provide the following:

-Ohio driver’s license or Ohio identification card number

-Name

-Date of Birth

-Address

-Last four digits of your Social Security number

By mail: Print, sign, and send this form to your county board of elections.

In person: You may obtain a voter registration form and register to vote in person at any of the following locations:

-The office of the Secretary of State;

-The office of any of the 88 county boards of elections;

-The office of the registrar or any deputy registrar of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles;

-Public libraries;

-Public high schools or vocational schools;

-County treasurers' offices; or

-Offices of designated agencies, including:

     -The Department of Job and Family Services;

     -The Department of Health (including the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program);

     -The Department of Mental Health;

     -The Department of Developmental Disabilities;

     -Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities;

     -The office of any state-assisted college or university responsible for providing assistance to students with disabilities.

Your voter registration form must be received by the voter registration deadline, the 30th day before the election, in order to be eligible to vote in that election. You also may entrust your completed registration form to another person for delivery to elections officials. However, that person must deliver it to a county board of elections or the Secretary of State's office within 10 days after you completed the form, or by the voter registration deadline, whichever is earlier.

For more information on registering to vote, click here.

Verifying Your Voter Registration Status

Online: Ohio voter information lookup

In person: Contact your county board of elections for more information on your voter registration status. 

Obtaining an Absentee Ballot

By mail: Fill out this online form, download it, and print it out. Sign the form and mail it to your County Board of Elections. 

Request an application: Call your County Board of Elections and request an application be mailed to you. The deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is noon on the Saturday before Election Day.

Make your own application: Voters who can’t print their own form may simply write the following information on a blank sheet of paper. Write: “I’m a qualified elector and I’m requesting an absentee ballot for the [date of the election for which you are requesting an absentee ballot].”

List your:

-Full Name 

-Date of Birth

-County

-Registration Address

-Mailing Address (if different from your registration address)

-Ohio driver’s license number OR last four digits of your Social Security number OR include a COPY of an acceptable form of ID

Sign and date your letter. Affix postage, and mail it to your county board of elections.

You can request your ballot for each individual election beginning on January 1st or 90 days before the date of an election, whichever is earlier, but you must complete and submit a separate application for each election in which you want to vote. Your request must be received by your local county board of elections by noon the third day before the election (usually a Saturday). However, you should submit your request as far in advance of the election as possible to ensure there is sufficient time for the board to mail you a ballot and for you to timely return that ballot.

Military and overseas voting: Military and Overseas voters may apply for

the FPCA (Federal Post Card Application). Please click here for more information.

Submitting an Absentee Ballot

By U.S. Mail: Your absentee ballot must be postmarked no later than the day before Election Day and received by your county board of elections no later than 10 days after the election. By state law, a postmark does not include a date marked by a postage evidence system such as a postage meter. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) estimates that it may take two to five days for your voted absentee ballot to be delivered to your board of elections by mail. If you are returning your voted ballot by mail during the week before Election Day, you should take it to USPS no later than the day before Election Day and ensure it receives a postmark as follows: 

-If you use a postage label purchased at a USPS customer service window or vending machine, the date on the label is the postmark. This is the USPS-recommended way to postmark your ballot.

-If you use postage stamps, ask that it be postmarked.

In person: If you return your ballot to the board in person, or if a near relative* delivers it for you, your board of elections must receive your ballot no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

*Near relative includes the voter’s spouse or the voter’s father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother, or sister of the whole or half blood, or the son, daughter, adopting parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece.

No voted ballot may be returned by fax or email. If a voted ballot is returned by fax or email, it will not be accepted, processed, or counted.

Early Voting

Early voting qualifications: Any registered voter in Ohio may vote early. Starting the day after the close of voter registration, all registered voters may request and vote an absentee ballot in person at their county board of elections or early voting center as designated by the county. For early voting locations and information, click here.

ELECTION DAY VOTING

On Election Day, you must cast your ballot in your precinct at your designated polling place between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. All voters must bring acceptable identification to the polls in order to verify their identity. Click here for a list of acceptable forms of identification.

COLLEGE STUDENT VOTERS

Voting in Your Hometown Election: Though you may be living on or near campus during the school year, you can participate in your hometown elections even from out of state. You can do so by maintaining your permanent home address as your voting residence and casting your ballot by:

-Requesting an absentee ballot from your county board of elections and voting by mail (see above for absentee voting information)

-Voting in person in the 28 days before a primary or general election at your home county board of elections if you won’t be at home on Election Day.

-If you will be at home on Election Day, go to your assigned polling location for your home precinct. 

Voting from Your Campus Address: You may be able to vote from your campus address. Please review the residency requirements for voter registration or contact your county board of elections to discuss your specific circumstances. If you are eligible and choose to vote in the election from your campus community, you must fill out a new voter registration form at least 30 days prior to the election using your campus address. This will cancel your hometown registration as you can only vote once in any given election.

For more information on college student voting, click here.

PROVISIONAL VOTING

A provisional ballot is used to record a vote if a voter's eligibility is in question and the voter would otherwise not be permitted to vote at his or her polling place. The content of a provisional ballot is no different from a regular ballot, but it is cast "provisionally" until election officials can verify the voter's eligibility to vote in the particular precinct at that election.

There are several scenarios in which a voter may cast a provisional ballot. A provisional ballot may be used on Election Day if a voter's eligibility is in question, or before (or on) Election Day if a voter has recently changed his or her address and did not update his or her voter registration.

Click here for more information.

Additional Information

Deciding how to vote: https://votesmart.org

Track your Ballot: https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/toolkit/ballot-tracking/

Polling Place: Ohio polling place finder

What is going to be on the Ballot?: View Ohio's voting guide online for the next upcoming election.