Submitted story
The Ohio General Assembly recently passed Senate Joint Resolution 2, authorizing the creation of an August Election, to be held in a few months on August 8 2023. Additionally, at the end of 2022 the 134th Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 458, which made a host of legislative changes to the administration of elections in Ohio. These changes will be in effect for the August 8 2023 Special Election, so the Board of Elections would like to take some time to help voters by explaining the changes here.
The most significant change relates to voter identification. Generally, voters will be required to provide a photo ID to vote in person, whether early voting at our office or at their polling location. Photo ID will include a driver’s license, state-issued ID card, Military ID (including national guard or VA ID card) or a US passport. Utility bills, bank statements, government checks, government documents, paychecks, and concealed carry permits are no longer accepted as valid forms of ID to vote. Voters without photo ID will be required to cast a provisional ballot. If a voter has a religious objection to being photographed, they may complete an affidavit of religious objection. For voters who prefer to vote by mail, identification will consist of either a driver’s license number, state ID number, last four digits of their social security number, or a copy (front and back) of their photo identification.
House Bill 458 also made changes to voting by mail, meaning the requesting and usage of absentee ballots. If you wish to request an absentee ballot you must now use the form provided by the Ohio Secretary of State. This form can be found on www.ohiosos.gov/elections or here at the Board office. The deadline for those requests will now be the Tuesday before each election. Voters who need to “cure” their ballot – correcting information on their absentee ballot—will have until the Saturday after the election to do so. Under current rules, absent voter’s ballots that are postmarked before Election Day must arrive at the Board of Elections by mail within four days after the close of polls on Election Day to be counted. Absent voter’s ballots returned in person or by a method other than US Mail must be received by the Board of Elections by close of polls on Election Day August 8.
The hours for Early Voting at our office no longer include the Monday (August 7) before the election. Those hours have been spread out along the last week of early voting. The early voting hours for the August Special Election are as follows:
Weeks One, Two, and Three of Voting (July 11-July 28 2023): Early voting begins July 11 2023, 8am-5pm on each weekday (Monday-Friday)
Week Four of Voting
– 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (Monday July 31)
– 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Tuesday August 1) (Last day to request a ballot + submit absentee application)
– 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (Wednesday August 2 through and including Friday August 4)
– 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Saturday August 5)
– 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Sunday August 6)
The last major change to elections relates to drop boxes. Champaign County currently has one drop box for accepting ballots, registrations, and absentee applications. This drop box is located at the front of the Champaign County Community Center and is monitored by 24/7 video surveillance. Beginning with the 2023 August election, video footage will be available to the public via a livestream. We will provide more information on how to access this livestream as it becomes available.
We advise every voter to check their polling locations and voter registration status now to prevent issues leading up to Election Day.
As always, please feel free to reach out to our office with questions or concerns at
Submitted by
The Champaign County Board of Elections
Meredith Bodey, Director
Chris Creamer, Deputy Director
Board Members:
Karen Ward, Chairperson
Mike Terry
Lynn Mintchell
Steve Moore
