OHIO — Ohio has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on federal filing deadlines for overseas military voters, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Friday. The deadline applies for those serving overseas to recieve and return ballots by the May 3 primary date.
But after Wednesday’s Ohio Supreme Court Decision to nullify a third set of Ohio House and Senate boundaries, LaRose said sending ballots overseas is once again delayed. LaRose said late Thursday Ohio House and Senate races will not be part of the May 3 primary.
At the heart of the deal is Amended Senate Bill 11, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed last week. The bill allows county boards of elections to expedite the process of sending ballots.
Rather than having 45 days to send out ballots to military overseas, county boards of election can send the ballots 30 days ahead of the May 3 primary. Overseas voters have an additional 10 days to return their ballots beyond the currently allotted 10 days post-election.
“With this agreement in place, the Department of Justice acknowledges these accommodations are sufficient to conduct the primary election as scheduled, and delivery of UOCAVA ballots will begin upon the finalization of the May 3 ballot,” LaRose said. “As a result of this week’s decision by the Ohio Supreme Court, the process of mailing out UOCAVA ballots is once again delayed. Even with this new delay caused by the court’s decision, I anticipate that it can still happen well in advance of the new April 5 deadline created by this agreement and SB11.”
The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act requires states to issue ballots for overseas service members and their families 45 days ahead of federal elections. The May 3 primary includes U.S. House and Senate races.
Overseas ballots make up a fraction of the total votes cast in elections. In the last comparable primary in 2018, 1.67 million ballots were submitted. Of those, just 1,074 came from overseas.
