Be Careful When Voting By Mail
From Ohio Votes and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio:
According to the Ohio Secretary of State, 722,498 vote-by-mail absentee ballots have been requested. If you plan to vote by mail, be sure to review all instructions before sending in your ballot. [NEOCH: This is especially important in the day of complicated forms for provisional ballots, shorter early voting times, long lines the last weekend of early voting, and "election observers" placed at the precincts to "challenge" or block voters.]
What to remember when preparing your ballot:
- Do not remove the numbered stub from the ballot;
- Place your completed ballot into the ID envelope, making sure it is sealed;
- Complete and sign the Statement of Voter on the outside of the ID envelope;
- Be sure to include your date of birth, your name and voter registration address (if your ID envelope is not pre-printed), your driver's license number, the last four digits of your SSN, OR a copy of a government issued ID;
- Check the "General Election" box and write in the year 2014.
Complete instructions can be found through the Secretary of State. Click here to view a copy the ID envelope. For more info, the League of Women Voters of Ohio has a great one-stop shop for all things voting in Ohio: Vote 411.
For more on Ohio Votes or additional help click here.
For more from the League of Women Voters of Ohio click here.
Vote by Mail Absentee Ballots:
- Submit to the local board of Elections a request or from the Secretary of State website. Every voter in Ohio should have received a form to return to request an absentee ballot.
- You will be mailed a ballot to complete. You can drop it back at the Board of Elections or mail it back to the Board of Elections (Pay attention that you will have to pay extra postage.)
- You must complete the inside envelope and seal it--Follow the instructions carefully.
- Your ballot must be postmarked by November 3 to be counted.
- You can drop your completed ballot at the Board of Election until November 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Brian Davis
Opinions reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.