Absentee Voting Begins Oct. 4 for General Election

Not going to be in town Nov. 8, have a medical emergency on election day or just want to get voting out of the way? No worries, the Summit County Board of Elections provides an easy way to vote absentee and early voting begins Oct. 4.

First, download the form to apply for an absentee ballot from the BOE website. (The form is also attached to this post in the form of a .pdf.)

Those who cannot download a form, may send the following information written on a piece of paper or filled in on the downloaded form to 470 Grant St. Akron, OH 44311:

• Name and voting residence address
• Birth date
• A form of identification: drivers license number, last four digits of a social security number, a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document that shows your name and address. (provide one)
• Election in which you wish to vote
• Mailing address where the ballot should be sent
• A statement attesting that you are a qualified elector
• Your original signature is required

Mail-in applications must be received by noon the Saturday prior to the election and cannot be faxed. For the Nov. 8 election, the applications must be received by Nov. 4.

Summit County Board of Elections Deputy Director Kim Zurz told AkronNewsNow.com, "We will be ready to help anyone coming in looking for their absentee ballots."

According to Ohio law, absentee voting begins 35 days before an election. In the case of the Nov. 8 general election, absentee voting begins Oct. 4. The final day of absentee voting is the Monday before the close of business prior to election day (Nov. 7).

Medical Emergencies

If there is a medical emergency on election day, the deadline to request an absentee ballot is 3 p.m. Nov. 8. Those who are confined in a hospital because of a medical emergency are eligible to apply. The form may be downloaded here and it is also attached as a .pdf to this post.

To find out more information about how to vote from out of the country, or guidelines for uniformed service members voting outside of the United States, visit the Summit County Board of Elections website.

On election day, the BOE will be open until 7:30 p.m. Regular business hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.