CLEVELAND, Ohio — The deadline to register to vote in the 2020 presidential election is Oct. 5, so now is the time to ensure your information is up to date.
Below is a quick guide to checking whether you are registered and instructions about how to register or update your registration.
With all the misinformation circulating about the November election, The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com asked Northeast Ohio elections officials to answer questions about how the process works as part of a myth-busting series of stories called Election Truth. In this installment, we address the voter registration process amid reports that Secretary of State Frank LaRose intends to purge inactive voters from registration rolls.
Fear not: An estimated 120,000 Ohio voter registrations will be purged, LaRose says, but not until after the Nov. 3 election. If you happen to be on the list (check here), it will not affect your chance to vote this fall.
Even so, many voters will likely want to ensure their information is up-to-date and they are properly registered. Here’s what you should do.
Checking your voter registration online
Think you are registered at the correct address? Go to the Ohio Secretary of State’s voter search webpage here to check. If the correct information doesn’t pop, double-check that you have entered the information correctly, or consider whether you might be registered with a different version of your name (Robert vs. Bob etc.), registered with a former last name, or registered at a previous address in a different county.
Most local boards of elections in Northeast Ohio also include a voter search option on their websites as well.
If you have questions or find a problem, call your local board of elections.
Updating your voter registration
Need to update your address? Those with an Ohio driver’s license or state identification card number can do so online here, at the Secretary of State’s website. Otherwise, use this form and mail or drop it off at to your local board of elections.
Your registration address must be a location you consider to be a permanent, not temporary, residence.
If you need to change the name on your registration, you must update your information by mail (forms can be printed here) or in-person at your board of elections.
The form used to update your registration is the same used to register to vote. Such forms can also be found at boards of elections, Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices, libraries, schools, county treasurer offices and Ohio Department of Job and Family Services offices. Deliver forms in-person or by mail to your local board of elections.
Registering to vote
If you have an Ohio driver’s license or state ID card, you can register online at olvr.ohiosos.gov. You will need to provide your license or ID card number, name, date of birth, address and last four digits of your Social Security number. The reason you can register online with a license or ID card is because the board of elections will use the signature you provided to the BMV for signature comparison purposes, according to a Cuyahoga County board spokesman.
If you do not have any of the above pieces of information, fill out this form and mail or drop it off at your board of elections. (Forms are also available at the board, or at many community locations. See previous section for possibilities.)
Who is eligible to register?
You must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old on or before Election Day, not in jail or prison for a felony conviction, not declared incompetent for voting by a probate court, and not permanently disenfranchised for election law violations.
What if a voter fails to update their registration in time?
If you do not update your registration by Oct. 5 and have moved to a different precinct or to another Ohio county, you can cast provisional ballots in-person on or before Election Day at the board of elections, or at the designated polling place for your current address.
If you failed to update a name change and remain at the same address, you can cast a regular ballot at your polling location if you provide proof of a legal name change, such as a marriage license or court order showing your previous and current names.
More information can be found here.
How is Ohio’s voter registration process secure?
The personal information needed to register— names, dates of birth, ID numbers — are “key” to the security of the process, according to Aaron Ockerman, executive director of the Ohio Association of Elections Officials.
Ohio’s statewide voter registration database connects to the U.S. Social Security Administration database, which allows officials to confirm the identity and Social Security numbers of the person registering.
“Every year, ‘Santa Claus’ tries to register to vote. He doesn’t have a Social Security number, so Santa Claus doesn’t get registered,” Ockerman told cleveland.com.
Ohio’s registration database also lists all existing registrations and connects to databases for 29 other states and Washington D.C., so officials can see whether someone has an active registration elsewhere. Those connections are a result of Ohio’s participation in the Electronic Registration Information System, a non-profit collaborative overseen by member states that seeks to improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls.
Another way to rule out potentially fraudulent behavior, according to Cuyahoga board spokesman Mike West, is the confirmation card mailed to each newly registered or voter with updated information. “If a card gets returned to us, we know they wrote down a wrong address or they were trying to do something fishy,” West said.
Voter registration forms also include a warning that falsifying election information is punishable by a fifth-degree felony.
Read more Election Truth stories:
How to apply for Ohio’s vote-by-mail option, and why it’s secure: Election Truth
Using a state ID to apply for an Ohio absentee ballot? You should know this: Election Truth
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September 21, 2020 at 07:00PM
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Want to ensure you are properly registered to vote in Ohio? Here’s how: Election Truth - cleveland.com
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