What is on the ballot?

This is a mid-term election year. You will be choosing your party's nominees for:

• Ohio Governor & Lt. Gov.
• Ohio Attorney General, Secretary of State, Auditor, and Treasurer
• US Senator from Ohio
• All members of Congress
• 2 Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court
• Judges of the Court of Appeals and Municipal Courts
• County Commissioner, Auditor, and Engineer

(Normally, you would also be nominating all members of the Ohio House of Representatives and members of the Ohio Senate from odd-numbered districts. There will be a primary election for these offices at a later date.)

There are no statewide or Franklin County ballot issues.  Grandview and UA have library levies, and many locations have police/fire levies and local liquor options.

Each voter's sample ballots can be found on their county Board of Elections web page.

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Sample Ballot

Sample ballots for both parties can be found on Board of Elections web sites, once a polling place has been found.  Many Boards of Elections also have an "interactive" sample ballot, which allows people to mark their choices online and print out their choices.

The League's www.vote411.org also allows people to make selections on line and text or email themselves their choices.

FRANKLIN |  Delaware |  Fairfield  |  Licking  |  Madison  |  Pickaway  |  Union

Directory of all Boards of Elections

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What's up with Redistrict­ing?

Why is this happening now?

By law, federal Congressional (i.e. US House of Representatives)  districts and state legislative (i.e. General Assembly) districts must be redrawn every ten years, following the completion of the U.S. Census, so that each district represents approximately the same number of people.  Those districts determine which voters may vote in the elections for those districts.  A U.S. Census was completed in 2021, so the districts must be redrawn for this primary election.

Because Ohio's population has not grown as quickly as other states', the number of Ohio's members of the US House of Representatives has declined from 16 to 15.

 By law, Ohio has 99 members to the Ohio State House of Representatives and 33 members of the Ohio State Senate (i.e. General Assembly), so these districts are redrawn to make sure that each district represents about the same number of people.

Didn't we vote to change the process to make it more fair and open? 

Yes. In 2015 and 2017, Ohioans voted overwhelmingly to amend the Ohio Constitution to change the way that the districts must be redrawn.  That Constitutional Amendments included provisions mandating how the districts must be drawn, and created the Ohio Redistricting Commission to draw the new districts. This is the first time those new processes are being used.

What's the problem?

In 2021 and 2022, the Ohio Redistricting Commission submitted several proposed maps, redrawing both the federal Congressional districts and the state legislative districts.  All those maps were challenged in court by the League of Women Voters and others.  In the court cases, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that all of the proposed new maps, both for Congress and for Ohio state legislative districts, are unconstitutional under the Ohio Constitution.

So, where does that leave us today? 
As a result of those Ohio Supreme Court rulings, you will not be voting today on primary candidates for the Ohio Senate or the Ohio House of Representatives.  A second set of primaries will be held for those state offices (at a date to be determined, probably in August or September). 

For legal reasons that are not entirely clear, you will be voting today on primary candidates for the U.S. Congress.  However, depending on the outcome of the court case, those districts may change, either before the General Election in November, or before the next election after that.

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Where can I see a map of the current Congressional districts?

Ohio

Franklin County

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How do I declare or change my party affiliation? 

Selecting/changing your party happens only at Primary Elections. 

At a Primary, you are asked which kind of ballot you want: Republican, Democratic, or Issues Only. (Sometimes there are also third party ballots available.) 

You may choose any ballot. If you are changing your party, the poll worker may make you sign a declaration saying that you now consider yourself a member of that party.

You can change your party affiliation at any/every primary election. 

At a General Election, you may vote for whomever you want, no matter whom you voted for in the Primary.

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Can I vote in the R's Governor's primary and in the D's Senate primary?

No. If you choose a Republican ballot, you'll have the opportunity to vote only on Republican races. If you choose a Democratic ballot, you'll vote only on Democratic races.

By choosing to vote in a certain party's primary, you are declaring that you are part of that "team." The primary is each team's opportunity to pick their best "player" to go against the other team's best "player."

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If I vote for X today, do I have to vote for X in November?

No. You can vote for whomever you want to in the general election -- all from the same party, some from each party, certified write-in candidates, whatever.

Also, you do not need to have voted in the Primary to vote in the General election.

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I expected to see a candidate on my ballot, but they are not there. What's up?

There are a number of reasons why a candidate might not be on your ballot:

1. They are running in the other party's primary election.
2. You may not live in their district any more.
3. If they are running for a seat in the Ohio State House or Senate, they will be nominated at their own primary election yet to be scheduled for August or September.  (Why? Because their new districts were not adopted in time for this election.)

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Can 17-year-olds vote today?

17-year-olds who will be 18 by the general election and have registered to vote may take part in today's nomination process.  They are allowed to vote on candidates seeking their party’s nomination for county and legislative offices (both state and federal) and judicial office (both local and state). However, they aren't allowed to vote on ballot issues or candidates for party central committee, because these are final elections, not nominations.

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Only official write-in candidates will be counted.  The names of write-in candidates do not appear on the ballot. Instead, a list of all valid write-in candidates must be available at each polling place for review by a voter upon the voter’s request.  Ask your poll worker how to write in a candidate's name on the paper ballot or electronic voting machine at your polling place.

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When will we know results?

The results of elections in Ohio are not certified as official until 15 days after the election.

For local and statewide candidates and issues, unless the race is very tight, the Boards of Elections will have a good idea of the winner by the end of election night (no earlier than when the polls are closed) or the next day.

In Ohio, very close races (i.e., a difference of less than .5% of ballots cast between to candidates) are subject to an automatic recount.

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