History of Early Voting in Ohio

Timeline of Early Voting in Ohio
-Follow the link above for an interactive timeline detailing early voting in Ohio.

Key Points about Early Voting in Ohio:

- The Ohio Secretary of State classifies all voting done before election day as "absentee" voting.

-This includes the request of an absentee ballot as well as in person early voting. If you vote early in person before election day you cast an absentee ballot as you are "absent" from voting on election day itself.

- Early voting has been around in Ohio for many years, however it has traditionally been limited to those requesting an absentee ballot who provided a valid excuse.

- In 2005, the law was changed permitting voters to request an absentee ballot without an excuse. The law also allows voters to cast an absentee ballot in person before election day. It has since become very popular. (*)

-Now in Ohio, not only can anyone request an absentee ballot for any reason, they can also cast one in person before election day.


Number of absentee voters before and after the 2005 law:

Reasons for Voting Early

- According to a 2010 survey done by the Center for Marketing and Opinion Research of Akron, most voters say they vote early mainly because of convenience and easier access to the polls. ***

Response to early voting and preview of controversy in 2012

-Voters in general had a positive response to early voting and reported few problems. So what was the controversy that surrounded early in person voting in the 2012 General Election?

-Ohio Secretary of State John Husted attempted to limit the amount of days of in person early voting, including the weekend before election day. You can form your own opinions, however the data below from 2010 tells an interesting story. (For a more in depth look at the controversy surrounding early voting in the 2012 election see the "Controversy" tab.)


The study found that voters experienced virtually no problems with the early voting process and election day itself.

The same study also found when early voters were likely to cast their early vote.

Note: Data on this page was compiled for history of early voting in Ohio explanation purposes. For a more recent and comprehensive data set see the "Data" tab. As such, see the "Controversy page for more exhaustive coverage of that issue.
*http://www.uakron.edu/bliss/research/archives/2010/EarlyVotingReport.pdf

**http://www.uakron.edu/bliss/research/archives/2010/EarlyVotingReport.pdf

*** This survey was conducted by the Center for Marketing and Opinion Research of Akron, Ohio for the Bliss Institute right after the 2010 general election. The survey was a telephone survey of 1,068 registered voters, including both landlines and cell phones. The sample included 189 early voters. The margin of error for the entire sample was plus or minus three percentage points, and for early voters was plus or minus seven percentage points. The data was weighted to account for the demographic mix of Ohio and was done in order to reduce sampling error that might skew the results. The study included a special battery of questions about early voting. http://www.uakron.edu/bliss/research/archives/2010/EarlyVotingReport.pdf