Ohio Extends Primary Voting To April 28: What It Means For You

COLUMBUS, OH — Gov. Mike DeWine signed the recently passed coronavirus relief omnibus bill into law during his daily news briefing on Friday. The legislative package will have numerous impacts on Ohioans, including extending primary voting to April 28. However, there will be no in-person voting this year for Ohio's primary.

As COVID-19 spread across Ohio, late on March 16, state officials ordered Ohio's polling locations closed because they posed a health risk to voters. The decision to shutter voting sites led to a cascade of lawsuits and confusion, with Ohioans unsure of when, or if, they would be able to vote.

DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose said they wanted to extend voting through June 2, but would work with state legislators on an election date. The Ohio General Assembly decided to abbreviate the voting period, giving voters until April 28 to cast their ballots.

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"Today my friends in the legislature did the right thing by extending deadlines and postponing requirements on everything from taxes to school testing, so it’s disappointing that they’ve instead chosen to significantly reduce the time provided for Ohio to bring this primary to a close," LaRose said this week.

How Voting Will Work

LaRose's office will need to design, print and mail 7.8 million postcards to registered voters around Ohio. The postcards will explain how to obtain forms necessary to request an absentee ballot.

LaRose's office believes these postcards will reach voters during the second week of April. Voting will conclude on April 28 in Ohio.

Voters will be able to print an absentee ballot request form and mail it to their board of elections, or call their board of elections and ask for the request form to be sent to them.

Voters will then need to fill out the request form and return it to their boards of elections. Boards will then process the request, print the ballot and send it to voters.

Voters will need to return their completed ballots by April 27.

If the process seems complicated, LaRose agrees.

"The proposal that Gov. DeWine, Lt. Gov. Husted and I laid out was preferable, and unlike the plan enacted today, our proposal would have concluded the election by putting a ballot request directly in the hands of every voter along with a postage-paid return envelope," LaRose said.

There will not be in-person voting on April 28, though. Instead, Ohioans will be able to print off ballots online and then mail those ballots to their county board of elections.

Voters can check-out Patch's 2020 presidential primary guide for more information on what will appear on ballots.