Issue 1: where to vote, and what Ohio is voting on

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Plenty of Ohioans may have voted early for Tuesday’s special one-issue election, but there are still millions of registered voters potentially headed to the polls.

Polls open at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and will close at 7:30 p.m. Anyone who is in line when polls close will be able to cast their ballots.

If passed, Issue 1 would require all future constitutional amendments to win at least 60% of the vote to pass instead of the simple majority of 50% plus one vote, which has been the process since 1912.

Issue 1 would also change the process of getting an initiative on the ballot, requiring groups to collect signatures from 5% of registered voters in all 88 Ohio counties, an increase from the current 44-county requirement. An existing 10-day curing period for groups who did not gather enough valid signatures would be eliminated.

According to the Franklin County Board of Elections, 46,674 people voted during the early voting period, with an additional 26,393 absentee ballots returned. Statewide, nearly 700,000 have already cast their vote.

VOTING IN-PERSON TUESDAY

As with many special August elections in years past, a voter’s normal polling location may be unavailable due to a variety of reasons, and today’s election is no different.

To find your polling location for today’s election, click here.

While absentee ballots should have been postmarked with Monday’s date, there is still time to get those ballots in and counted by dropping them off at the voter’s county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The list of county boards of elections can be found below.

Any voter who requested an absentee ballot, but decided to vote in person, must fill out a provisional ballot. This is due to the absentee ballot being registered in the voter’s name with the board of elections.

Absentee ballots not submitted by mail must be dropped off at the county’s board of elections and cannot be submitted at the voter’s polling location.

ACCEPTED IDS AT THE POLLS

Voters appearing in person to cast their ballot will need to follow new government-issued photo ID laws that first went into effect in May’s primary election.

The currently accepted methods of identification are:

Ohio driver’s license
State of Ohio ID card
Interim ID form issued by the Ohio BMV
U.S. passport
U.S. passport card
U.S. military ID card
Ohio National Guard ID card
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ID card

All photo IDs must have the following:

An expiration date that has not passed
A photograph of the voter
The voter’s name, which must substantially conform to the voter’s name as it appears in the Poll List or in the Poll Book

Previously, voters would have been able to show something like a utility bill to verify their address. The new law does away with that allowance.

Voters without photo IDs will be able to cast provisional ballots on Election Day, and then return to the county board of elections headquarters with a photo ID to prove their identity.

OHIO’S BOARDS OF ELECTIONS

Voters are encouraged to visit their county board of elections website (see below) for further information or to report issues, and to find out what issues or candidates they will be voting for.