COLUMBUS, Ohio – Under regulations released today by the office of Ohio’s top elections official, voters can cast absentee ballots in person for four weeks – including two Saturdays – leading up to the primary and general elections this year.
Boards of Election will be open for voting from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the last two Saturdays before the election, Secretary of State Jon Husted said.
The directive to county election boards reflects a proposal from the bipartisan Ohio Association of Elections Officials.
“I have watched as numerous election laws have passed the General Assembly and yet the bipartisan plan I have advocated for has neither been introduced nor adopted. We have a bipartisan solution in this proposal and it is time to implement it,” Husted said.
UPDATE: The Democratic National Committee’s director of Voter Protection criticized the new voting hours as an example of a Republican politician trying to put up “barriers to the ballot box.”
“It is clear Secretary Husted is determined to restrict the right to vote in Ohio. Just days after Republicans eliminated Golden Week, they’ve now ended early voting on Sundays as well as the Monday before Election Day. Early voting has worked in Ohio since 2005 and the only reason to limit it now is to advance the Republican Party’s political agenda,” Pratt Wiley said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Husted says he wants to establish the voting schedule well ahead of the November general election so that voters and elections officials can prepare. He set hours for voting leading up to the May primary in January.
“Ohio’s election officials poured blood, sweat and tears into arriving at hours that are fair to Ohio’s voters. Our proposal represents a bipartisan agreement that takes into account many different points of view,” said Kathy Jones, Democratic director of the Brown County Board of Elections and president of the OAEO.
“At the end of the day, we can argue over what is best for a particular county board of elections or another, but that is not what this is about. This directive is about what is fair to voters and taxpayers in every Ohio county, and that is why this directive will serve the state well,” said Republican Delaware County elections board member Shawn Stevens, the association’s first vice president.
Husted says, after waiting for three years for lawmakers to enact a law, the association fashioned a blue print that establishes uniform days and hours when voters can cast absentee ballots in person prior to Election Day.
Early voting hours for the May 6 primary:
April 1-April 4 – Tuesday through Friday – 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday, April 7 – 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
April 8-May 2 – Tuesdays through Fridays – 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 3 – 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Voters can request and vote an absentee ballot or provisional ballot in person beginning April 8. Voters in line at the end of the business hours must be permitted to make their application and vote.
Early voting hours for the Nov. 6 general election:
Oct. 7- Oct. 17 – Tuesdays through Fridays – 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Oct. 20-Oct. 24 – Monday through Friday – 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 25 – 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.,
Oct. 27 through Oct. 31 – Monday through Friday – 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 1 -8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
ELECTION DAY – NOV. 6 – Polls open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.