Vote By Mail / Absentee
Before Election Day: Voting by absentee ballot
When does Vote by Mail / Absentee voting begin and end?
Primary and general elections: Except for uniformed services voters and overseas voters* absentee voting begins 35 days before the day of an election. Absentee voting (In-house) ends the Friday before the election (except for voters hospitalized due to emergencies, as further described in part 3 of the Absentee Deadlines section below).
Special elections: Special elections are elections that are held on a day other than the day of a primary or general election. If the laws governing the special election make it impossible for the absent voter ballots to be printed by the timelines listed in the above section, then absentee voting for the special election begins as many days before the day of the election as reasonably possible. You may contact the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to learn if a special election is being held in your precinct and, if so, when absentee ballots will be available. Except for voters hospitalized due to emergencies, as further described in part 3 of the Absentee Deadlines section below, absentee voting for special elections still ends the Friday before the election.
Once absentee ballots are available for voting, any eligible voter may receive and return an absentee ballot:
- in person at the county board of elections office or,
- by U.S. Mail.
Who is eligible to vote a Vote by Mail / Absentee ballot?
Any qualified Ohio voter whose registration information is up to date may request and vote a Vote by Mail / Absentee ballot without stating a reason.
What is the application process for obtaining an Vote by Mail / Absentee ballot?
Ohio law provides separate application processes for different classifications of Vote by Mail / Absentee voters (militia, armed services, overseas, etc.). In all cases, Vote by Mail / Absentee ballots must be applied for in writing. If you are properly registered to vote, you must submit your written request to the board of elections of the county in which your voting residence is located. Your request must contain certain information (described in the following sections) and your original signature. You may, but are not required to, use an application form prescribed by the Ohio Secretary of State (Form 11-A).
*If you are not an active duty member of Ohio’s organized militia (including the Ohio Air National Guard, Ohio Army National Guard, Ohio Naval Militia, and Ohio Military Reserve), an active duty member of the U.S. armed services serving outside of Ohio, or a U.S. citizen residing outside of the U.S., you are considered a “regular” absentee voter.
How to Vote Vote by Mail / Absentee
Electors do not have to state a reason to request and vote a Vote by Mail / Absentee ballot. However, every application for a Vote by Mail / Absentee ballot must satisfy all the requirements set forth in Ohio Revised Code. The application need not be in any particular form but shall contain the following:
- The elector’s name
- The elector’s signature
- The address at which the elector is registered to vote
- The elector’s date of birth
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One of the following:
- The elector’s driver’s license number;
- The last four digits of the elector’s social security number;
- Copy of a current and valid photo identification, a military identification, current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document (other than a voter registration notification mailed by a Board of Elections) that shows your name and current address;
- A statement identifying the election for which the absent voter’s ballots are requested;
- A statement that the person requesting the ballot is a qualified elector;
- If the request is for a primary election, the elector’s party affiliation;
- The address to which the ballot shall be mailed if different from registered address
The board of elections will notify the applicant by mail if any required information is missing.
Vote by Mail / Absentee Deadlines
To receive your Vote by Mail / Absentee ballot:
- By mail: Unless you are a member of the U.S. Uniformed Services or a U.S. citizen residing outside the country, you must mail your properly completed Vote by Mail / Absentee ballot application bearing your original signature to the board of elections of the county in which your voting residence is located. The board must receive your request by noon on the Saturday before the election.
- In person: You may go to the board of elections office of the county in which your voting residence is located during regular business hours after absentee ballots are available for voting, but no later than 6 P.M the Friday before the election, and request, receive and vote your ballot at the board office.
- If you or your minor child is in the hospital on Election Day: Regardless of where you or your minor child is hospitalized in Cuyahoga County, you must submit a properly completed and signed request to the board of elections of the county in which your voting residence is located by 3 p.m. on Election Day. To be eligible under this provision, you or your minor child must be confined in a hospital because of an unforeseeable medical emergency. Your application must specify where, why and when you or your minor child came to be hospitalized. If you or your minor child is hospitalized in the same county where you are registered to vote, two representatives of the board of elections can deliver the ballot to you, wait while you mark the ballot, and return your voted ballot to the board office. Additionally, you may include in your absentee ballot application a request that your county board of elections give your unmarked ballot to a designated relative – your spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, son, daughter, adopted parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece – who shall deliver the ballot to you in the hospital and return your voted ballot to the board office no later than 7:30 PM Election Day.
For your Vote by Mail / Absentee ballot to be counted, it must be received as follows:
- If cast from anywhere in the U.S. and you return it by mail, it must be postmarked* (the day before the election) and received by the board of elections no later than 10 days after the election.
- If you are a voter outside the U.S. on Election Day, your ballot envelope must be signed and submitted for mailing no later than midnight EDT the day before Election Day and received no later than 10 days after the election in order to be counted.
- If returned in-person to the board of elections, absentee ballots must be received at your local county board of elections on Election Day by 7:30 p.m. (the close of the polls).
* Postmarked does not include a date marked by a postage evidence system such as a postage meter.
Reasons for rejecting Vote by Mail / Absentee ballots
A board of elections in determining whether to count an Vote by Mail / Absentee ballot must apply the rules set forth in Ohio Revised Code 3509.07.
Thus, a vote shall not be accepted or counted if election officials find that:
- the statement accompanying an absentee voter’s ballot is insufficient, or
- the signatures does not correspond with the person’s registration signature, or
- the applicant is not a qualified elector in the precinct, or
- the ballot envelope contains more than one ballot of any one kind, or any voted ballot that the elector is not entitled to vote, or
- Stub A is detached from the absent voter’s ballot, or
- the elector has not included with the elector’s ballot any identification required as referenced in the “How to Apply” section above, or
- the ballot was not placed and sealed inside the completed Identification Envelope