COLUMBUS – Ohioans wanting to vote in the upcoming presidential primary have only a few days left to register.
The deadline to register to vote in the March 15 primary is Tuesday. Voters can get registration forms online at MyOhioVote.com or at county boards of elections and local libraries.
If there is still no clear front runner among the contenders by then, Ohio’s “winner-take-all” primary could be a tie-breaker.
“Ohio’s primary is the first state at which with whichever candidate wins gets all the delegates, instead of just a proportion. So if the presidential primary contenders are still running neck-and-neck when the primary rolls around in Ohio, winning all the delegates could help tip the scales,” said Carrie Davis, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio.
Those mailing in registration forms must have them postmarked by Tuesday to be considered valid. All 88 county boards of elections and the Secretary of State’s office in downtown Columbus will be open until 9:00 p.m. that day to accept registration forms.
The Secretary of State’s office says all Ohio voters may begin voting on Wednesday, the first day after the close of registration, in-person or by mailing in an absentee ballot.
On primary day, polls will be open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Catherine Turcer with Common Cause Ohio says voters also need to review their information.
“Sometimes people think they’re registered to vote but they’ve moved, and so it’s important to check to make sure that you are in fact registered to vote or you won’t be able to,” she said.
The Franklin County Board of Elections office at 1700 Morse Road has been expanded by 8,000 square feet to prevent lines of voters from stretching outside the board’s headquarters and into its parking lot during peak periods, board officials said.
“We’re making these changes because we have the highest turnouts in central Ohio and early voting is so popular,” said director Bill Anthony.
Anthony says the new space is large enough to a shelter a line of 1,200 voters at a time, which should be enough to accommodate the turnout from recent presidential election Anthony says nearly 69,000 voted early in- person during the 2012 general election.
The Franklin Co. Board of Elections office will be open for early voting on the following schedule:
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Weekdays – Wed. Feb. 17 through Friday, Mar. 4
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Saturday, Mar. 5
8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Weekdays, Monday, Mar. 7 through Friday, Mar. 11
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Saturday, Mar. 12
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Sunday, Mar. 13
8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. – Monday, Mar. 14