Ohio Revised Code
Chapter 3505 | General and Special Election Ballots
Section 3505.18 | Procedure When Elector Entered Polling Place.

Effective: June 21, 2013
Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 47, Senate Bill 109, Senate Bill 216 - 130th General Assembly
(A)(1) When an elector appears in a polling place to vote, the elector shall announce to the precinct election officials the elector's full name and current address and provide proof of the elector's identity in the form of a current and valid photo identification, a military identification, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document, other than a notice of voter registration mailed by a board of elections under section 3503.19 of the Revised Code, that shows the name and current address of the elector.
(2) If an elector does not have or is unable to provide to the precinct election officials any of the forms of identification required under division (A)(1) of this section, the elector may cast a provisional ballot under section 3505.181 of the Revised Code and do either of the following:
(a) Write the elector's driver's license or state identification card number or the last four digits of the elector's social security number on the provisional ballot envelope; or
(b) Appear at the office of the board of elections not later than the seventh day after the day of the election and provide the identification required under division (A)(1) of this section, the elector's driver's license or state identification card number, or the last four digits of the elector's social security number.
(B) After the elector has announced the elector's full name and current address and provided any of the forms of identification required under division (A)(1) of this section, the elector shall write the elector's name and address at the proper place in the poll list or signature pollbook provided for the purpose, except that if, for any reason, an elector is unable to write the elector's name and current address in the poll list or signature pollbook, the elector may make the elector's mark at the place intended for the elector's name, and a precinct election official shall write the name of the elector at the proper place on the poll list or signature pollbook following the elector's mark. The making of such a mark shall be attested by the precinct election official, who shall evidence the same by signing the precinct election official's name on the poll list or signature pollbook as a witness to the mark. Alternatively, if applicable, an attorney in fact acting pursuant to section 3501.382 of the Revised Code may sign the elector's signature in the poll list or signature pollbook in accordance with that section.
The elector's signature in the poll list or signature pollbook then shall be compared with the elector's signature on the elector's registration form or a digitized signature list as provided for in section 3503.13 of the Revised Code, and if, in the opinion of a majority of the precinct election officials, the signatures are the signatures of the same person, the election officials shall enter the date of the election on the registration form or shall record the date by other means prescribed by the secretary of state. The validity of an attorney in fact's signature on behalf of an elector shall be determined in accordance with section 3501.382 of the Revised Code.
If the right of the elector to vote is not then challenged, or, if being challenged, the elector establishes the elector's right to vote, the elector shall be allowed to proceed to use the voting machine. If voting machines are not being used in that precinct, the precinct election official in charge of ballots shall then detach the next ballots to be issued to the elector from Stub B attached to each ballot, leaving Stub A attached to each ballot, hand the ballots to the elector, and call the elector's name and the stub number on each of the ballots. The precinct election official shall enter the stub numbers opposite the signature of the elector in the pollbook. The elector shall then retire to one of the voting compartments to mark the elector's ballots. No mark shall be made on any ballot which would in any way enable any person to identify the person who voted the ballot.
The Legislative Service Commission presents the text of this section as a composite of the section as amended by multiple acts of the General Assembly. This presentation recognizes the principle stated in R.C. 1.52(B) that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation.

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