Find out about voter registration, residency requirements
Q: How does where I live affect my voter registration?
A: Ohio election laws consider your residence to be a “fixed” place of habitation and the place you plan to return after an absence. If you visit another state or county temporarily, but intend to return to the place where you registered to vote, you are not considered to have lost residency. Your voter registration remains active. Additionally, if you leave the state to work for the U.S. government, you are still considered an Ohio resident during the period of U.S. government service. Similarly, you would be considered an Ohio resident if you took a state job but were required to temporarily relocate to another area of the state.
Q: Does my marital status affect where I live for voting purposes?
A: The place where the family of a married man or woman lives is considered to be his or her place of residence except if you and your spouse have separated and live apart. In this case, wherever you have lived for at least 30 days is considered to be the location of your residence for voting purposes.
Q: What if I don’t have a home or live in a specific place?
A: If you do not live in a “fixed” place, but you have a shelter or other location at which you consistently or regularly inhabit and intend to return, that shelter or other location is your residence for the purpose of voting.
Q: How can I lose my Ohio residency for voting purposes?
A: You can lose your Ohio residency for voting purposes if you vote in another state, live in another state with the intention of making that state your residence, or live in another state continuously for four years or more. In any of these cases, your intention to return to Ohio does not prevent your loss of Ohio residency.
Q: Can I still vote if I move and forget to change my voter registration?
A: Yes. How and where you vote depends upon how far away you move. If you move within the same election precinct (area established by the board of elections for voters within that area to vote at the same polling place), you may change your voter registration at your regular polling place on election day.
If you move out of your election precinct but still live in the same county, you may go to your county board of elections office within 28 days of the election or on election day, change your registration and vote; or go to your new polling place on election day, change your registration and vote in your new precinct. Contact your local county board of elections for the location of your new polling place.
If you move from one county to another, you may appear at your new board of elections office within 28 days of the election or on election day, submit a change to your registration and vote at the board office.
Absentee voter’s ballots also may be available for voting. Call your local board of elections for more information.
In any case, do not vote or attempt to vote in any election precinct where you no longer live.
Law You Can Use is a consumer legal information column provided by the Ohio State Bar Association. Sylvia Brown, assistant legislative counsel for Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, originally prepared this article. Articles appearing in this column are intended to provide broad, general information about the law. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from an attorney.
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