Staff report

COLUMBUS — Ohio Sec. of State Frank LaRose announced that early voting started on Wednesday for the upcoming March primary election.

All registered voters may cast an early in-person ballot at their county board of elections. 

Additionally, absentee ballots will be sent to those who have already requested one. Ohioans have utilized absentee voting for nearly two decades, and Ohio has put in place both laws and processes to keep absentee voting secure, including:

Voter identification and signatures are checked twice by bipartisan teams at county boards of elections

Voter list maintenance helps keep voter rolls accurate

Ballot harvesting is against the law in Ohio, and potential violations are investigated

Voters can track their ballot online at VoteOhio.gov/Track

“Ohio’s bipartisan county boards of elections have spent months preparing to deliver another secure and accessible election. I am proud of their work and that our state continues to serve as the gold standard for elections,” LaRose said. “Ohio makes voting easy and convenient. We also investigate fraud, maintain voter rolls, and take other commonsense steps to ensure Ohioans can be confident in the outcome of an election. I encourage every eligible voter to visit VoteOhio.gov and make their plan to vote today.”

To further enhance election security and guard against fraud, House Bill 458 was passed in December 2022 and requires voters to provide a government-issued photo identification when voting in person.

Valid IDs include:

• Ohio driver’s license

• State of Ohio ID card

• Interim ID form issued by the Ohio BMV

• US passport

• US passport card

• US military ID card

• Ohio National Guard ID card

• US Department of Veterans Affairs ID card

All photo IDs must have an expiration date that has not passed.