Ohio Mail-In Voting: How to Absentee In Scioto

Mail-in votes are just as safe and secure as voting at your local polling place on Election Day, says Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Ohio's chief elections officer and, like Trump, a Republican. LaRose says …

"The President raises concerns that may be valid in other states, but not in Ohio. The President is responsible for all 50 states and I'm just responsible for Ohio and the 8 million registered voters here need to know that vote by mail is secure, easy to use and your vote will be counted."

(Nick Robertson. “How Mail-In Voting Works In Ohio: A Step-By-Step Guide.” ideastream.org. August 03, 2020.)

The Ohio Controlling Board authorized federal funding to allow the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office to send absentee ballot request forms to every registered voter in Ohio.

LaRose says …

“For nearly a decade, Ohioans have received an absentee ballot request ahead of the Presidential and Gubernatorial General Election, and the controlling board action ensures that will be the case again this year. Sending the request – not the ballot – helps voters participate in the election and means each registered voter in Ohio can continue to choose one of three options available to them – early voting, absentee voting by mail, or voting in person on Election Day.”

So, if you live in Scioto County, here is what you need to know about voting with an absentee ballot. Please refer to the Ohio Secretary of State's guidelines to insure accuracy of this information –  https://www.sos.state.oh.us/elections/voters/absentee-voting-by-mail/#gref

STEPS TO REQUEST AND VOTE AN ABSENTEE BALLOT:

1. Complete the absentee ballot request form (https://www.sos.state.oh.us/publications/#abr)
2. Once you have completed your application by providing all of the required information print and sign it.
3. Mail the request form back to your own county board of elections.

SCIOTO COUNTY

602 7th St., Rm 105
Portsmouth, OH 45662

Office Hours:
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
(Monday – Friday)

Telephone: (740) 353-4178
Fax: (740) 355-8326

E-mail:scioto@OhioSoS.gov
Website:www.boe.ohio.gov/scioto/

4. Wait to receive your ballot in the mail from your county board of elections. If you have questions about your absentee ballot request, you should call your county board of elections or you can track the status of your ballot request as well as your voted absentee ballot through the Voter Toolkit (https://www.sos.state.oh.us/elections/voters/toolkit/ )
5. Return your voted ballot. You can send it by U.S. Mail or deliver it in person to your county board of elections, but the return envelope containing your marked ballot must either be received by your county board of elections prior to the close of the polls on Election Day, or postmarked no later than the day before the election and received by the board of elections no later than 10 days after the election.

To make sure your absentee ballot is counted, it must be received by your board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day OR be postmarked by the day before Election Day.


The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) estimates that it may take two to five days for your voted absentee ballot to be delivered to your board of elections by mail.


If you are returning your voted ballot during the week before Election Day, you should take it to USPS no later than the day before Election Day and ensure it receives a postmark as follows:


• If you use a postage label purchased at a USPS customer service window or vending machine, the date on the label is the postmark. This is the USPS-recommended way to postmark your ballot.
• If you use postage stamps, ask that it be postmarked.

You should not use
It is your responsibility to make sure the ballot has enough postage.

If you do not vote your absentee ballot and instead decide to go to your assigned polling place on Election Day, you must vote a provisional ballot.

Note: No voted ballot may be returned to a board of elections by fax or e-mail. If a voted ballot is returned by fax or e-mail, it will not be accepted, processed, or counted.

You should not use

Safeguards

When your application is received, all the identifying information on the application – your name, date of birth, signature, Ohio driver's license number or social security number – are electronically and manually cross-referenced with information from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and from your original voter registration form. This ensures that the person applying for a ballot is really who they claim to be.

Then, a bipartisan team from the Board of Elections creates a ballot packet, which includes a voter's personalized ballot from their district held inside an identification envelope which contains another form with identifying information. That envelope is inside a second return envelope alongside instructions to ensure the ballot is filled out correctly.

After a voter receives his or her ballot and fills it out, the voter seals the ballot inside the identification envelope, and seals the identification envelope inside the return envelope. This creates two layers of protection for the ballot from anyone trying to get in and tamper with it.

A verification process begins. Once a ballot reaches the Board of Elections – whether it be on Election Day, days later or weeks before – every ballot goes through the same verification process. Just like with the mail-in application, information on the identification envelopes is verified by a bipartisan team electronically and manually. Still sealed, the ballots are stored in a room with two locks so that one Republican and one Democratic Board of Elections employee are needed to access the room.

Mail-in ballots are then removed from their envelopes and inspected to ensure they don’t have coffee stains or tears, which would make them unable to be read by machines. Damaged ballots are still counted, just by hand instead. After being flattened to remove creases, ballots are fed through a machine that captures the voting record but does not create a count of how many votes a candidate has received. That ensures employees of the Board of Elections don't have any information about the results of an election - they find out the results at the same time the public does.