GREENVILLE — The Darke County Board of Elections will be conducting Early/In-Person Absentee voting for the upcoming August 2, 2016, Special Election. Voting will begin Wednesday, July 6, 2016.
Pursuant to the change in Section 3509 of the Ohio Revised Code, any registered voter who chooses to vote absentee, can do so without the prior restricted eligibility requirements. However, with that change, there are other requirements that a voter must meet. The application must include the name, voter residence address, voter’s birth date, plus one of the following — an Ohio driver’s license number, the last four digits of your Social Security number, or a copy of a current and valid photo identification, a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address, along with applicant’s signature, election for which the ballots are requested and, if a partisan primary election, the voter’s political party affiliation. The request can be made on a standard
Application for Absent Voter’s Ballot, which is provided upon request from the Board office, or a written request from the voter with the necessary information. (R.C. 3509.03, 3511.02)
The deadline for mail-in applications remains 12:00 noon on the third day before the Election, Saturday, July 30th. The final day to vote absentee in our office will be Monday, August 1st, 8 am to 2 pm. If a voter, or voter’s minor child, is hospitalized because of an accident or an unforeseeable medical emergency, the voter may apply for an absentee ballot until 3 p.m. on Election Day. Any person confined in a hospital on Election Day, or those parents who have hospitalized children on Election Day, may apply to vote absentee without regard to the length of the hospital stay. Those confined to the hospital or are otherwise disabled or suffer a physical infirmity may request assistance in marking their ballot. Two Board of Election employees of
the two major political parties will come to the voter, assist them in marking the ballot and return
the voted ballot to the Board office. This service is for CONFINED ABSENTEE VOTERS WHO ARE UNABLE TO MARK THEIR BALLOTS BY REASON OF EITHER ILLITERACY OR PHYSICAL INFIRMITY ONLY. Board employees may also assist voters at the Board office.
The Secretary of State has set uniform days and hours for In-Person Absentee voting for all eligible voters. All Board of Elections in Ohio have adopted the following business hours for this election cycle:
(Wednesday — Friday) July 6th – 8th, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
(Monday — Friday) July 11 th – 15th, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
(Monday — Friday) July 18th — 22nd, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
(Monday — Friday) July 25th — July 29th, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
(Saturday) July 30th, 8:00 a.m. — 4:00 p.m.
(Sunday) July 30, 1:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m.
(Monday) August 1 st, 8:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m.
Voting hours are posted on the Board of Elections website along with other pertinent information pertaining to the August 2nd Special election. Visit our website at www.electionsonthe.net/oh/Darke.
Completed ballots must be returned to the Board of Elections in person or via a method other than U.S. mail before the close of the polls, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 2, 2016, to be counted. Absentee ballots returned by U.S. mail from within the United States must be postmarked no later than Monday, August 1st and received in our office by Friday, August 12th. There must be a legible postmark stamped on the envelope. The only exception is, if the voter is outside of the United States on Election Day, the ballot envelope must be postmarked prior to the close of the polls and received by the board no later than 10 days after the election (August 12th).
Any questions regarding this information or requests for assistance in early/absentee voting may call the office at 548-1835 during the above stated hours or contact us by email at [email protected] .
