OHIO — According to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, through federal court filings, Ohio reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, which is expected to be official this week in regards to federal deadlines for military overseas voters to get and return their ballots for the May 3 primary.
At the heart of the deal is Amended Senate Bill 11 which Gov. Mike DeWine signed on Friday. The bill allows county boards of elections to expedite the process sending ballots in an expedited fashion starting this Saturday through April 5.
Overseas voters will have an additional 10 days to return their ballots beyond the 10 days after the election they already have.
However, it also shortens the required amount of time military and overseas voters must have access to their ballots from 45 days to 30 days.
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.
