Voting Rights - Frequently Asked Questions
This section contains brief answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about voting rights of people with disabilities. These answers are not intended as legal advice about your specific situation. You should consult a lawyer if you need legal advice. In addition to this list of FAQs, refer to the Voting section for more information and resources.
List of FAQs
Your voting place is identified on the back of your voter registration card. You can also confirm your registration and find your voting place online on your county Board of Elections web site by referring to the Ohio County Boards of Election Directory.
Return to top
The polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Return to top
When you come to the polling place to vote, you must identify yourself and provide proof of your identity. Proof of identity may be in the form of a driver's license, state identification card, or other valid photo identification. It may also be in the form of a military identification, a copy of a current utility bill, a bank statement, a government check, a paycheck, or another government document (but you cannot use a notice of election mailed by the board of elections, or a notice of voter registration mailed by the board of elections). The document you use should show your current address. If a driver's license or state identification card does not show your current address, it is still valid; the precinct election official will make a notation that the address is not current. If you can identify yourself in any of these ways, you can cast a regular ballot.
If you cannot cast a regular ballot for lack of accepted identification, you can still vote by casting a provisional ballot. If you have a Social Security number and can provide the last four digits of that number, you can cast a provisional ballot without further proof or contact with the board of elections.
If you have no accepted identification and have no Social Security number, you can still vote by provisional ballot by signing an affirmation form provided by the election precinct officials. In this case also, you are not required to have any further contact with the board of elections. (If you decline to sign an affirmation form, you can still cast a provisional ballot but the ballot will not be counted unless you appear at the board of elections office within ten days and provide identification or the last four digits of a Social Security number or sign the affirmation form.)
If you have an accepted means of identification but you don't have it with you, and if you have a Social Security number but cannot state the last four digits of that number, you can vote by provisional ballot. In order to have the ballot counted, you must appear at the board of elections office within ten days and provide an accepted means of identification or provide the last four digits of your Social Security number.
Before casting your ballot, you will be asked to sign your name or make a mark in the polling book or poll list. The board of elections must make reasonable accommodations in the signing/marking process, including, for example, allowing the use of any available assistive technology or device to help you sign your name or mark. If despite accommodations you are physically unable to make a mark or signature, you can have another adult resident of this state sign the polling book for you if you file with the board of elections a document authorizing that person to sign for you (as an "attorney in fact").
Return to top
A provisional ballot is a normal ballot marked with your voting choices but sealed in an envelope with your signature. Your ballot will be counted in the election if election officials confirm later that you are eligible to vote.
You are eligible for a provisional ballot if you moved out of your precinct to a new precinct and have not notified the county Board of Elections of your new address. You may also be eligible for a provisional ballot if your name does not appear in your precinct's voter list, even though you registered properly.
However, you may only vote in the precinct in which you live. If you go to a precinct in which you do not live, you will not be issued a provisional ballot, and you will not be allowed to vote there. Poll workers do have the duty to direct you to the proper precinct.
If you recently moved and did not tell the county board of elections that you moved, or if the polling place does not have your name in its records, you can go to the voting place of the precinct in which you now live, show proof of your new address, and receive a provisional ballot to cast your vote.
You can contact your local Board of Elections prior to Election Day to obtain the location of your precinct's polling place. On Election Day, it is important that you bring with you some form of documentation that indicates your residence (e.g. utility bill, drivers license, etc.).
In summary, vote at the polls nearest your home, and bring identification.
Return to top
Anyone can apply for an absentee ballot. You no longer have to give a reason why you want to vote absentee — any reason is valid.
Your Board of Elections has special arrangements available for persons with disabilities and persons who have medical emergencies the day of election. Contact your Ohio County Board of Elections as soon as possible for further information.
Applications by mail must be received by the Board of Elections not earlier than 90 days before and not later than noon on the third day before the election. Applications submitted by the voter in person must be received by the close of regular Board of Elections hours on the day before the election. Applications for persons who are hospitalized by a medical emergency will be accepted until 3:00 p.m. on election day.
Absentee ballots are available at your county board of elections. You can get your absentee ballot in several ways:
- Go in person to your county board of elections office and ask for an absentee ballot. You can vote with your absentee ballot while you are there, or you can take your ballot with you. (Note: If you fill out the absentee ballot at the board of elections make sure to bring proof of identification.)
- Request an absentee ballot in writing from the board of elections office in the county where you are registered to vote.
- Complete an absentee ballot request form. Although a request form is not mandatory, you can get one from the Secretary of State's Web site: Application for Absent Voter's Ballot (PDF file). Your county board of elections may also have a request form.
Return to top
Contact your Ohio County Board of Elections right away. Even if you can no longer receive an absentee ballot, you can still vote by provisional ballot at your precinct's voting place.
Return to top
Voter registration is permanent. You do not have to renew your registration. However, if you have not voted in the past several elections, the Board of Elections may have purged your name so that you can not vote. You should update your registration if you have not voted in the past several elections, or if you have moved, changed your name, recently had your right to vote restored after release from prison, from parole, or from a probate order that restricted your right to vote. Contact your Ohio County Board of Elections or visit its web site to confirm your registration status.
Return to top
Yes. You can vote by provisional ballot if you are in the proper voting precinct. The proper voting precinct is the precinct where you live. You may have to provide proof that you live in that precinct, such as a driver's license, utility bill, etc. If you are not in the proper voting precinct, the poll worker should tell you what precinct to go to. You may also contact the Ohio County Board of Elections for assistance.
Return to top
The rights of voters with disabilities may be denied in a variety of ways. For example,
- poll workers falsely assume voters with disabilities are incompetent to vote;
- poll workers deny voters with disabilities the assistance they require and are entitled to in the voting booth;
- voting place and equipment are not accessible;
- poll workers are unwilling to move objects to make the voting place accessible to a particular person with a disability;
- poll workers deny voters with disabilities curbside voting services;
- voters with disabilities in facilities are denied ballots and delivery.
If you believe your voting rights have been violated in these or other ways because you are a person with a disability, we want to hear from you. The Ohio Legal Rights Service (OLRS) is the federally and state designated Protection and Advocacy system for people with disabilities. OLRS was created to protect the rights of Ohioans with disabilities, and that includes protecting the fundamental right to vote. If you experience problems when you register to vote or exercise your right to vote on election day, please contact OLRS. You can call OLRS' Intake toll free telephone line, write to OLRS Intake, or complete an on-line form: Need our Help?
Ohio Legal Rights Service
50 West Broad Street, Suite 1400
Columbus, Ohio 43215-5923
Telephone: 800-282-9181 (statewide toll free) or 614-466-7264 (toll call)
TTY: 800-858-3542 (statewide toll free) or 614-728-2553 (toll call)
FAX: 614-644-1888
Return to top
If your polling place is not accessible, you may approach as near as possible to the voting area and ask a poll worker to provide "curbside voting." The poll worker will bring the voting materials to you whether you are actually at the curb, in a car, or otherwise located outside the polling place.
You should contact your Board of Elections or your precinct voting place ahead of time to learn whether the location is accessible to you and, if not accessible, to ask for curbside voting and other accessibility accommodations.
Return to top
If you are unable to mark your ballot personally, you have the right to assistance by a person of your choice, except the person may not be a candidate in the election, your employer, your labor union leader or their agents.
You also have the right to the assistance of two poll workers.
Return to top
Ordinarily, you must submit your application for an absentee voter ballot to the Ohio County Board of Elections not earlier than ninety days before and not later than noon of the third day before the election an election. However, applications for persons who are hospitalized by a medical emergency are accepted until 3 p.m. on election day.
Return to top
Even if a judge has appointed a guardian or has ruled that you are otherwise mentally incompetent, you still have the full right to vote, unless the judge ruled specifically that you are incompetent to vote. This right is assured by a consent order called Glancy v. Morrow County Board of Elections:
"Registration creates a presumption in favor of capacity to vote. This presumption remains, absent a finding by a probate court that the person is specifically incompetent to vote after a record hearing on that issue. Notification of any such finding to the Board of Election and elector shall be completed at least thirty days prior to the election in question. Any finding of incompetency not meeting these criteria is not operative with respect to the right to vote."
The full Glancy consent order is available in print from Ohio Legal Rights Service and online at Individuals with Disabilities and Voting: The Glancy Consent Order
Return to top
Ohio law allows you to register and vote as soon as you are released from prison, even if you are on parole or probation. You are only required to submit an ordinary voter registration form. You cannot vote if you are currently incarcerated for a felony conviction. If you are incarcerated for a lesser crime such as misdemeanor, you still have the right to vote.
Return to top
You may bring a sample ballot into the voting booth with you. You may also bring a person of your choice into the voting booth to assist you. However, that person may not be a candidate on the ballot, and may not be an agent of your employer or your labor union.
If you need help in voting and have no one to assist you, two poll workers will provide assistance to you in marking your ballot. Any person who assists you is prohibited from disclosing your votes. Poll workers should clearly understand their duty to assist voters with disabilities. A change in Ohio election law now makes state statutory law consistent with both federal law and the Glancy consent order. (Ohio Revised Code Section 3505.24, as amended, effective August 28, 2001.)
Return to top
All polling places must be physically accessible to persons with disabilities unless an exemption has been granted by the Secretary of State for good cause. Contact the Ohio County Board of Elections to confirm that your polling place is accessible. If it is not accessible, you can require the Board of Elections to reassign you to an accessible voting location or to provide you another means of casting your ballot on election day (such as curbside balloting). The federal government has published the ADA Checklist for Polling Places to help voting officials understand what makes a polling place accessible.
Return to top
Call your Ohio County Board of Elections to confirm that your polling place is accessible. If it is not accessible, you can require the Board of Elections to reassign you to an accessible voting location or to provide you another means of casting your ballot on election day (such as curbside balloting).
Call your Ohio County Board of Elections to confirm that your polling place is accessible. If it is not accessible, you can require the Board of Elections to reassign you to an accessible voting location or to provide you another means of casting your ballot on election day (such as curbside balloting). However, the Board of Elections may not effectively force you to vote by absentee ballot or by curbside voting for its own convenience. You have the right to vote in your assigned voting place as any other voter in your precinct, if the voting place can be made accessible to you by reasonable accommodations and modifications like the examples in the next answer.
Return to top
Federal and state laws both provide that voters with disabilities are entitled to accommodations for their disabilities if necessary to provide access to voting. Examples of accommodations for disabilities are:
- poll workers should move objects or make the physical voting environment more accessible to you;
- poll workers should assist you in the voting booth because of a visual disability, reading disability or manual dexterity disability;
- poll workers should provide you an explanation of instructions in simpler language;
- poll workers must allow you a person of your choice (though not your employer, your labor union leader or their agents) to assist you if you are unable to mark your ballot;
- poll workers must allow you as much time as you need in the polling booth, although state law may allow poll workers to limit your time when all machines are in use and other voters are waiting to vote;
- poll workers must allow you to bring assistive technology equipment into the polling booth to assist you in voting.
Return to top
You can call the local or county campaign headquarters of either political party or of a local candidate. They will usually arrange for a volunteer to take you to the polls.
- Ohio Democratic Party headquarters telephone number is 614-221-6563.
- Ohio Republican Party headquarters telephone number is 614-228-2481.
You can also ask your case manager or social worker whether or not they can assist you or whether or not they know of a transportation resource in your area. You can also contact your local paratransit service and arrange transportation in advance.
Return to top
If you cannot leave the hospital, the client rights advocate should assist you in contacting the Ohio County Board of Elections, or you can contact the Board of Elections. Many hospitals will have pre-arranged to have county elections officials at the hospital to assist voters with absentee ballots. If your residence is in a different county from the hospital, different arrangements will need to be made. It is important that you work closely with staff to make the appropriate arrangements well in advance of election day.
Return to top
The United States Department of Justice enforces ADA Title II and investigates complaints of ADA Title II violations. If you believe that your rights to accessible voting places and equipment have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with the United States Department of Justice.
United States Department of Justice
Telephone: 800-514-0301
TTY: 800-514-0383
WEB: http://www.ada.gov/enforce.htm#anchor218282
In Ohio, the Secretary of State receives and reviews complaints of voting rights violations. If you believe that your rights to accessible voting places and equipment have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with the Secretary of State. Complaints made by U.S. mail should be sent to:
Ohio Secretary of State
Attention: Director of Elections
P. O. Box 2828
Columbus, Ohio 43216
Complaints made in person, by phone, fax or email should be made to:
Ohio Secretary of State, Attention Director of Elections
180 East Broad Street, 15th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone: 877-767-6446 / 614-466-2585 (ask for Elections Division)
TTY: 614-466-0562
FAX: 614-752-4360
Contact form: www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/about/ContactUsAgency.aspx
If you want assistance with a voting rights issue directly related to your disability, call Ohio Legal Rights Service toll free at 800-282-9181 or 614-466-7264.
If you believe your voting rights have been violated in these or other ways because you are a person with a disability, we want to hear from you. If you experience problems when you register to vote or exercise your right to vote on election day, please contact OLRS. You can call OLRS at 614-466-7264 or toll free at 800-282-9181, write to OLRS Intake, or complete an on-line form: Need our Help?
Return to top
Related Topics:
