Ohioans can start early in-person and mail-in voting for the November election today. Ohioans will cast ballots in the first presidential election under rules from a law signed last year. And there are some changes you should know about if you haven’t voted since 2020.
Photo ID is now required for voters
Voters will need a photo ID to cast a ballot in person. In the past, Ohioans didn’t need to show a photo and could use a utility bill or a pay stub to prove their address. But Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said that a valid government-issued photo ID is necessary.
“The most common, of course is going to be your state id, driver’s license, military extremely rare ID like I have, or a passport," LaRose said.
Your ID doesn’t need to have your current address but you will be asked by a poll worker to verbally confirm it. LaRose doesn't think the ID requirement will affect many Ohio voters.
“98% of voters prior to that law were already using a state ID or a driver’s license and that means that there was a strong 2% or so who was using what we call the alternative forms back then – a pay stub, a government document, a utility bill – that kind of thing," LaRose said.
Advocates for voters dispute that claim, noting the rate of provisional ballots rejected for failure to show proper identification since the law passed has increased more than tenfold.
If you don't have a photo ID, you will still be able to vote using a provisional ballot. However, in order for that ballot to be counted, you must return to the board of elections no later than four days following Election Day to provide a qualifying form of photo identification. House Bill 458, the law requiring photo ID, also shortened that period, which had been seven days.
Ohioans who want to vote but don't have a photo ID can get one free of charge at their local Bureau of Motor Vehicles office. Even so, voting rights groups say some voters are disenfranchised because they cannot get the birth certificate or social security card required to get a government-issued ID.
Change involving voters with disabilities
HB 458 also made changes to the list of who can help voters with disabilities cast ballots. Some of those changes are on hold by court challenges. However, under a directive from LaRose, anyone dropping a ballot off for another voter will be required to walk it into the board of elections instead of putting it in the drop box outside.
HB 458 also limited counties to one secure ballot drop box at the board of elections office. Some lawmakers, and LaRose himself, are pushing to get rid of drop boxes altogether.
Why the laws were changed
After the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump made unsubstantiated claims about widespread election fraud. Challenges were waged throughout the U.S. and none of them produced evidence of fraud or election wrongdoing that could have swayed that election.
Voter fraud is extremely rare. In Ohio, which has a bipartisan county elections system that has often been called “the gold standard” compared to other states, Republicans who dominate the state legislature enacted sweeping changes that they said will safeguard the vote even more.
More information about changes that are in place now because of the new law can be found here.
