3509.03 Application for absent voter's ballot.

Except as provided in section 3509.031 or division (B) of section 3509.08 of the Revised Code, any qualified elector desiring to vote absent voter’s ballots at an election shall make written application for those ballots to the director of elections of the county in which the elector’s voting residence is located. The application need not be in any particular form but shall contain all of the following:

(A) The elector’s name;

(B) The elector’s signature;

(D) The elector’s date of birth;

(E) One of the following:

(1) The elector’s driver’s license number;

(2) The last four digits of the elector’s social security number;

(3) A copy of the elector’s current and valid photo identification, a copy of a military identification , or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document, other than a notice of an election mailed by a board of elections under section 3501.19 of the Revised Code or a notice of voter registration mailed by a board of elections under section 3503.19 of the Revised Code, that shows the name and address of the elector.

(F) A statement identifying the election for which absent voter’s ballots are requested;

(G) A statement that the person requesting the ballots is a qualified elector;

(H) If the request is for primary election ballots, the elector’s party affiliation;

(I) If the elector desires ballots to be mailed to the elector, the address to which those ballots shall be mailed.

A voter who will be outside the United States on the day of any election during a calendar year may use a single federal post card application to apply for absent voter’s ballots. Those ballots shall be sent to the voter for use at the primary and general elections in that year and any special election to be held on the day in that year specified by division (E) of section 3501.01 of the Revised Code for the holding of a primary election, designated by the general assembly for the purpose of submitting constitutional amendments proposed by the general assembly to the voters of the state unless the voter reports a change in the voter’s voting status to the board of elections or the voter’s intent to vote in any such election in the precinct in this state where the voter is registered to vote. A single federal postcard application shall be processed by the board of elections pursuant to section 3509.04 of the Revised Code the same as if the voter had applied separately for absent voter’s ballots for each election. When mailing absent voter’s ballots to a voter who applied for them by single federal post card application, the board shall enclose notification to the voter that the voter must report to the board subsequent changes in the voter’s voting status or the voter’s subsequent intent to vote in any such election in the precinct in this state where the voter is registered to vote. Such notification shall be in a form prescribed by the secretary of state. As used in this section, “voting status” means the voter’s name at the time the voter applied for absent voter’s ballots by single federal post card application and the voter’s address outside the United States to which the voter requested that those ballots be sent.

Each application for absent voter’s ballots shall be delivered to the director not earlier than the first day of January of the year of the elections for which the absent voter’s ballots are requested or not earlier than ninety days before the day of the election at which the ballots are to be voted, whichever is earlier, and not later than twelve noon of the third day before the day of the election at which the ballots are to be voted, or not later than the close of regular business hours on the day before the day of the election at which the ballots are to be voted if the application is delivered in person to the office of the board.

Effective Date: 08-22-1995; 01-27-2006; 2006 HB3 05-02-2006; 2008 HB562 09-22-2008