It is primary election day in Ohio and Indiana. If you are voting in person, you might be caught off guard in parts of the Tri-State.
Early voting has been open for the Ohio and Indiana May 2 primary elections for quite some time, but for those looking to cast their ballots in person on election day, here's what to expect.
Eligible voters should have received a postcard in the mail highlighting their specific polling location, but if you don't know it you can find out online for both Ohio and Indiana. The deadline to register to vote for this primary was April 3, with early voting starting on April 4.
In Ohio, this is the first election since the state's new photo ID law went into effect. The new law, which Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed in January, took effect in April during the first week of early voting. It requires voters to prove their identity with photo identification when casting a ballot in-person. The law also changed the timeline in which absentee voters could mail their ballots.
“The focus of voter ID law was that documents had to have your name and current address,” said Sherry Poland, president of the Ohio Association of Election Officials. “With this new law, the General Assembly moved away from proving where you live to proving who you are.”
So voters who have relied, in the past, on documentation such as utility bills, bank statements, paycheck stubs or other forms of government-issued identification will not be able to do that anymore. Those voters will have to have a drivers license, state ID, military ID or passport to vote in person.
Voters who cannot meet those requirements can still vote absentee — but they cannot cast their ballot inside a polling place in person. Those restrictions have change too.
The new law reduced the window during which elections boards can accept mailed ballots; in previous years, ballots could be mailed up to 10 days after an election, provided it was postmarked on or before election day. Now, elections boards can only accept ballots that arrive within four days of election day.
To view a sample ballot of what is up for a vote this election, voters can visit their county's board of election website. Ohio voters can also type their address into the Ohio Secretary of State's website and Indiana voters can do the same.
For voters in Ohio — specifically in the Greater Cincinnati area — it's highly likely there will be a school levy of some sort on the ballot.
When election results are available, you can find them by clicking here.
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