Ohio’s universal absentee ballot applications are hitting mailboxes

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cuyahoga County elections officers stated Monday they’ve begun to get questions from voters after the state carried out its routine common mailing of unsolicited absentee poll functions final week.

Thus far, elections officers stated the commonest query they’ve gotten concerning the mailing is from voters questioning if the functions, which include a type letter from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, are reliable.

Tony Perlatti, director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, stated that might be partly as a result of the state varieties look completely different than the county absentee poll request varieties voters might have acquired in the event that they voted by mail for the state’s main elections in Could and August.

“Impulsively, they get one thing that appears completely different, and individuals are asking is that this legit, or is somebody enjoying video games?” Perlatti stated in an interview. “So we need to be sure that folks understand it’s the identical data in a special format. However that’s OK, go forward and use this one.”

Since 2012, Ohio has mailed absentee poll functions, also called vote-by-mail functions, throughout even-numbered years to all registered voters in Ohio. Meaning final week, the state mailed almost 8 million absentee poll functions to voters throughout the state.

Below state legislation, voters who need an absentee poll utility should present their

1. Title
2. Date of beginning
3. Handle the place they’re registered to vote
4. Signature
5. Private figuring out quantity, most frequently the final 4 digits of a social safety quantity or driver’s license quantity.

Each the shape LaRose mailed final week, and the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections type, present voters with an area to fill out all 5 required items of data.

Generally, third-party teams will mail absentee poll functions that elections officers additionally will settle for, so long as they embody the 5 required items of data.

The Cuyahoga County type highlights the required fields, and in addition has a reproduction type in Spanish, a federal mandate because of the county’s vital variety of voters of Puerto Rican descent.

The state type doesn’t embody the Spanish duplicate or the highlighted fields. Nevertheless it does embody a barcode elections officers say makes it simpler to trace the standing of a poll utility.

Accomplished varieties should be returned to the board of elections workplace within the county the place a voter lives to be processed. In Cuyahoga County, there’s a safe drop field within the car parking zone exterior the board of elections workplace at 2925 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland.

Perlatti stated the commonest factor voters neglect is to supply their date of beginning, which results in their requests getting rejected.

He additionally stated although the poll functions have already got been mailed, voters can’t obtain their absentee ballots till Oct. 12.

Elections officers predict round 142,000 folks in Cuyahoga County to vote by mail for the November election, round one-third of the folks they anticipate to solid ballots.

Beneath is a replica of the template absentee-ballot utility type LaRose mailed final week. Cell customers can click on right here for a PDF.