Strong Security Protocols Are in Place as 812,200 Ohioans Request Their Absentee Ballot
Oct. 12, 2022: As early voting gets underway in the 2022 General Election, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced today that absentee ballot applications received to date reflect a 4.4 percent increase over the previous gubernatorial statewide election in 2018.
Ohioans have requested to date 812,200 absentee ballots, including 4,938 requests from military and overseas voters whose absentee ballots began to be mailed September 23rd.
Find a full county-by-county breakdown (XLSX).
In an effort to provide further transparency into the initial week of absentee request data, additional comparisons to 2018 absentee request data by county are being provided. You can view the data by clicking here (XLSX).
Counties with the largest increases compared to 2018 by total number include Summit (+6,631), Trumbull (+3,836), and Delaware (+3,613). Counties with the largest decreases compared to 2018 by total number include
Cuyahoga (-9,016), Franklin (-4,201), and Fairfield (-1,487).
“Starting today, more than 800,000 absentee ballots will begin hitting mailboxes across Ohio,” said Secretary of State Frank LaRose. “This level of absentee ballot utilization for an election like this one is a strong indicator that Ohioans continue to have confidence in the security of our mail-in ballot system, and for good reason – there is no better system for security and convenience than ours.”
Ohio voters will benefit from nearly 200 hours of early voting opportunities for the 2022 General Election, with early voting beginning on Wednesday, October 12th. Ohio is one of 19 states that allows voting on a Saturday and one of just six states that allows early voting on a Sunday. Ohio’s early voting period is 21% longer than the national average.
Voters can check early voting days and hours by clicking here.
Voters may also choose to vote by mail. Learn how to request your absentee ballot at VoteOhio.gov.
Of the 42 states that run a traditional absentee voting system, a comprehensive review by the Brookings Institute determined no state does it better than Ohio. SOURCE: www.brookings.edu/research/voting-by-mail-in-a-pandemic-a-state-by-state-scorecard/.
Absentee voting in Ohio is time-tested and has strong security checks in place.
Ohioans have utilized absentee voting for two decades, and that has allowed Ohio to put in place both the laws and processes necessary to make absentee voting secure against fraud.
• Voter identification and signature are checked TWICE during the process.
• Voter list maintenance allows for accurate voter rolls.
• Ballot harvesting is against the law in Ohio.
• Voters are able to track their ballot on VoteOhio.gov/Track.
These requirements and processes, as well as strict laws against voter fraud, have made absentee voting secure in Ohio and instances of voter fraud provably rare. Learn more about how Ohio keeps our elections secure by visiting ElectionSecurity.Ohio.gov.
Ohioans can learn more about Ohio’s absentee ballot process by watching our short video, Life of An Absentee Ballot.
Voters should consider these best practices when they choose the absentee ballot option:
• Fill in the information properly. Review the form to ensure you have filled it out properly, including writing your date of birth where required, not the day’s date, as well as signing your request form.
• Include your e-mail and/or phone number. County boards of elections will be calling or e-mailing voters who may need to remedy information on their ballot request form or absentee ballot envelope. Including your information will ensure you can be reached if your ballot request doesn’t have everything filled out properly.
• Don’t wait. To accommodate necessary processing time at the county board of elections and the time required for the United States Postal Service to deliver elections mail, voters should not procrastinate – fill out and mail your absentee ballot request as soon as possible.
• Double check your return envelope. Before you submit your ballot request form, make sure the envelope is addressed to your county board of elections.
• Track your ballot. Once their ballot request is received by their county board of elections, voters may track their ballot at VoteOhio.gov/Track. As long as your ballot is postmarked by the day before the election and received within 10 days after the election at your county board of elections, your vote will be tabulated.