Secretary Brunner Provides Guidance on Early Voting Locations

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has provided Ohio’s county boards of elections with clear, consistent guidance for establishing and operating early voting locations at sites other than boards of elections.
 
Ohio law permits one early voting location, which may be at the board of elections or at an alternate site.  Directive 2008-50, issued late Tuesday, ensures Ohio’s voters will be able to vote early at an accessible, convenient location in their county. 

 “As we prepare for what we believe will be a record presidential election turnout, boards of elections are anticipating a surge in absentee voting.  Many of them are encouraging this early vote to minimize congestion at the polls on Election Day. This directive allows us to work in partnership with boards by providing clear and consistent standards to ensure uniform access to early voting for all eligible voters,” Secretary of State Brunner said.

According to the directive, each county board of elections may select a single location as permitted by law to serve as an alternative to the board of elections’ office to accommodate in-person absentee voting. 

Secretary of State Brunner requested that the Ohio Legislature permit this early voting at multiple locations (at both the board office and up to 3 additional locations in a county), reducing the potential for long lines on Election Day and increasing convenience to voters.  However, the General Assembly declined to act on this recommendation.

With only a single site permitted for early voting, many boards of elections are considering early voting locations other than board offices to accommodate increasing numbers of Ohioans voting early by absentee ballot, for which no reason need be given. Absentee voting, both in-person and by mail, accounted for 15% of all votes cast in the March primary and is expected to increase for the general election Nov. 4.

Standards for alternate early voting locations:
The directive reminds county boards of elections that public buildings are preferred as alternate polling locations, according to Ohio law.   The directive further requires that alternate sites, whether public or private, must meet all the requirements of a regular polling place under the law. 
In applying Ohio laws for polling places to alternate early voting locations, Secretary of State Brunner provided the following standards that must be met by the location:

1.  Must meet the requirements of state and federal handicapped accessibility standards, unless exempted by the Secretary of State.
2.  Must be well lit, including the parking areas, for easy ingress and egress.
3.  Must be easily accessible – ideally, on the first or ground floor – to prevent hindrances or barriers to voting, such as escalators or elevators that may be subject to breakage.
4.  Must have adequate and preferably free parking for all voters.
5.  Must be provided with adequate signage to indicate that it is a polling place, including proper placement of American flags.
6.  Must provide adequate privacy for voting by individual voters.
7.  Must be used only before the election for early voting but not on Election Day, to prevent voter confusion about where to vote on Election Day and to miinimize the use of provisional ballots that would not be counted if a voter did not vote at their own precinct on Election Day.
8.  Must be open to the public during the at least same hours of the board of elections offices.

-30-

Media Contacts:
Jeff Ortega, Assistant Director of Communications, Media, 614.466.0473
Kevin Kidder, Media Relations Coordinator, 614.995.2168