With only a week left until the midterm election and early voting well underway, Ohioans can access, review, and mark their selections on a sample ballot prior to Election Day.
The November 8 election is a midterm, so a number of federal, state, and local candidates will be on the ballot as well as two important statewide issues.
This year, all Ohio voters will elect their new governor to a four-year term. One of Ohio’s two U.S. Senate seats, a six-year term, is also available with Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) retiring. According to surveys held by Marist and Siena colleges, the race for the U.S. Senate is neck and neck while Governor Mike DeWine currently holds a lead in his re-election.
Ohioans will also vote on state Issues 1 and 2 to allow public safety to be a consideration when setting bail and whether local governments should be prohibited from allowing noncitizens to vote.
There are other elections on the Ohio ballot, however, and where a voter lives ultimately determines what’s on their ballot.
Voters are segmented into different congressional, Ohio Senate, and Ohio House districts. Congressional maps drawn by the Ohio Redistricting Commission are being used for the midterm election.
A voter’s city, town, and school district also will determine what bonds or levies might appear on their ballot. A few districts in the region are considering larger, construction project bond issues.
The easiest way for voters to see every election they will have an opportunity to vote in before they actually do so is to pull up a sample version of their ballot online.
Sample ballots can be located by going to the Ohio secretary of state’s website and clicking on the county that a voter is registered in.
That will direct voters to their county board of elections voter information portal, where prompts to fill out voter personal information will appear. For residents of Franklin County, that includes first and last name, year of birth, and house number.
Once voters input the required information they can view a sample ballot containing the exact elections which will be up for a vote on Election Day.
With Election Day on the horizon, Ohioans can make sure they are making informed decisions by obtaining, viewing, and marking their selections in advance on a sample ballot.
As of October 25, early voting and absentee ballot requests have totaled 1,076,049 — a 1.8 percent increase since 2018.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Election Day 2020” by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
