With the voter registration deadline fast approaching, there are several ways students can ensure they are prepared for Election Day in November. Credit: Nathan Mader | Campus LTV Producer

As the Nov. 7 election approaches, the voter registration deadline is coming even quicker.

Tuesday is the last day for Ohioans to register to vote, and the process can often be an overwhelming task. 

Here’s a how-to guide for students’ registration and voting needs. 

Registering to Vote

 In-state students can register to vote online at the Secretary of State’s website. To qualify for online registration, students will need to provide their Ohio driver’s license or Ohio ID card number, their name, date of birth, address and the last four digits of their Social Security number. 

If students do not have one of these forms of identification or if they are out of state, they can print out a voter registration form and provide any of the three forms of identification — either a Social Security number, Ohio driver’s license or Ohio ID card number. This form must be postmarked by the voter registration deadline, Tuesday, Oct. 10, to their county board of elections. 

A major mistake Meagen Rinard, assistant director of community and civic engagement with the Office of Student Life at Ohio State, said she’s seen is students incorrectly filling out the portion of the voter registration form that asks what county they reside in; many students put their country instead.

Madi Barnes, coordinator of community and civic engagement for Local Service Programs, said it’s also crucial for students to be mindful of where they are sending their registration form and to ensure it is in the proper county in which they are registered. 

“Many [in-state] students may try to send their information to the wrong place, or if they want an absentee ballot, they’re not writing in their hometown where they’re requesting from,” Barnes said. “They’re writing in their Franklin County address or they’ll turn it in to us to turn in to the Franklin County Board of Elections, which is incorrect.” 

OSU Votes, a student-led civic engagement movement headed by the Office of Student Life,  encourages students to check their voter registration information before submitting it to their board of elections. If there are errors in the information submitted, it could prevent a student from successfully registering to vote. 

Sydney Dunmire, a fourth-year in public leadership, management and policy and president of Buckeyes for Voting Rights — a student organization that helps students get civically involved — said students should leave their phone number and email address on their registration form so their county board of elections can contact them to fix any mistakes.

If students are unsure if they are registered to vote, they can check their voter registration status on the Secretary of State’s website. 

If this is a student’s first time registering to vote as an Ohio resident, they can register at either their campus address or home address. If registering at their home address, students will need to go home and vote during the early voting period or on Nov. 7, if they want to vote in person. 

Requesting and Voting with an Absentee Ballot

To receive an absentee ballot, students must request one through Form 11-A. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 31, or seven days before the Nov. 7 election.

An absentee ballot will be mailed to a student’s home by their county board of elections and can either be returned in person or mailed to their specific county board. 

For out-of-state students who don’t have a U.S. passport or a U.S. military card, they can still vote using an absentee ballot, as it requires no photo ID, only a social security number to validate a voter’s identity.

For out-of-state students receiving financial aid, Rinard said it’s best to contact Ohio State’s Student Financial Aid office before registering to vote in Ohio. Certain financial aid packages that are contingent on residency in one’s home state may be jeopardized if they register to vote outside of their home state.

Absentee ballots returned to any of the county boards in person must be received before the polls close at 7:30 p.m., on Election Day. Ballots mailed to a student’s county board must be postmarked by the day before the election in order to be counted. 

Voting In Person

When students vote in person, a photo ID must be presented at the polling place, a new provision created by House Bill 458, which was signed into law in January. Valid forms of photo ID include an Ohio driver’s license, a State of Ohio ID card, an Interim ID form issued by the Ohio BMV, a U.S. passport and a U.S. military ID. 

All photo IDs must have the name and photo of the voter, and the ID must be unexpired. Driver’s licenses from other states or a BuckID are not a valid photo ID under current law. 

Students will have varying polling places that correlate to their address. If someone is at the incorrect polling place, they will not be able to place their vote. Students can check to see where their polling locations are on the Secretary of State’s website. 

Polling locations will be open Nov. 7 from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. If a voter is in line when their polling place closes, they have the right to wait as long as it takes for them to be able to cast their ballot.   

If students have more questions pertaining to voting, they’re encouraged to reach out and contact OSU Votes by email. Buckeyes for Voting Rights will also be helping students register to vote Monday, Oct. 9 in The Oval from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

“Students on campus have a lot of power with their right to vote, especially out-of-state students voting in Ohio,” Dunmire said. “We have the power to shift that focus of policymaking from the older generation to the younger generation and see our priorities be put into policy.”

For more information on the Nov. 7 election and voting, students can visit OSU Votes’ November election website.