COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Military and overseas citizens will have an extra 10 days to send their ballots to the board of elections thanks to a recent bill passed by the Ohio Senate.

In a 26-2 vote, the Ohio Senate approved amendments added to Senate Bill 11 Thursday that require boards of elections to accept ballots from military and overseas citizens up to 20 days after election day.

The bill, which comes after the Ohio House tossed out another version earlier this week, extends the deadline from the original 10 days after election day in which ballots were permitted to be counted.

“Quickly determined that this is move that was necessary to protect the vote of those serving our country the women and men who wear our military uniform,” Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko (D-Richmond) said.

In addition to extending the deadline for returning ballots, the bill also allocates $200,000 toward the Secretary of State’s Office to implement the new election changes.

“Extra money appropriated today is to pay the additional costs for the ballots that are not mailed by March 18th,” Senate President Matt Huffman (R-X), said.

The bill and the amendment were discussed at length about how this will go into effect immediately, but some lawmakers also brought up some other concerns about the May primary — as Ohio legislative maps have yet to be approved.

“If I choose to run as I’ve chosen to run, I don’t know what district I’ll be running in. I have no clue, but you still want a May primary,” Sen. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati) said.

While some lawmakers, including Yuko, spoke in favor of moving the primary date while maps remain pending before the Ohio Supreme Court, Huffman said there’s options available for voters if ballots aren’t ready in time for the start of early voting.

“No one is suggesting that the ballots aren’t going to be ready to go for early voting that on April 5th. If you wanna walk in and cast your vote that day or send in your mail and vote by mail,” Huffman said.

As for the bill with the amendment specifically focusing on military ballot deadlines, that heads next to the Governor for his signature.