ACCESS Rescind restrictions on In Person Early Voting –

One size does not fit all.

Ensure that counties have enough precincts, polling

locations, and parking in 2014 because the num-

bers of precincts and polling locations have both

shrunk by nearly 20% from 2004 to 2012. (*and by

25% in Cuyahoga County from 2008 to 2012)

VOTER

OUTREACH & INCLUSION Reach out to all kinds of voter groups, not just to

those with right-leaning political stripes.

Reach out to colleges and universities and recent

college graduates in accordance with legal

settlement to make sure they know how and

where to vote.

Send absentee ballot applications to ALL voters—

do not exclude voters that the Secretary’s office

has unilaterally labeled as “Inactive.”

Don’t settle for low turnout in the midterm

elections. Study and implement methods to

increase participation in our democracy.

PUBLIC CONFIDENCE &

ACCOUNTABILITY Stop Boards of Elections from referring for

prosecution voters who cast an absentee ballot,

lose faith that it will be counted, and then vote

provisionally on Election Day. No voter was

prosecuted for this legal act, and the harassment

has to stop.

Follow the law requiring public comment on

directives.

VOTER TOOLS Give voters the ability to search for their polling

location by their home address on the Secretary’s

website.

Restore the voter education videos for deaf voters

to the Secretary’s website.

A checklist for elected leaders to encourage voter participation in Ohio

Photo: Sam Hendron, WOSU

Voting shouldn’t take all day.

Take steps now to ensure a more participative democracy later.

Elected officials should work to encourage voting, not complicate it.

Page 1 of 2

PURGING Stop marking voters for purging simply for not

voting. It’s not required, necessary, or in line with

the goals of the Motor Voter law.

REGISTRATION Online Voter Registration —Switch it on for all, not

just some.

Register all BMV online customers who do not opt

out of the voter registration opportunity that the

state is required to offer.

Investigate and fix any other problems registering

voters at BMV locations to bring up Ohio’s below-

average numbers of Motor Voter registrations.

COUNTING VOTES Count all “double-bubble” votes, not just some.

Votes must be counted unless the intent of the

voter is impossible to determine.

Revise process for handling errors so that voters

who forget to send back an absentee envelope are

not labeled as making a “fatal error.” (1,545 voters

affected in 2012.)

Rescind restriction on counting absentee ballots

that are dropped off at the polls by voters and

accepted by poll workers.

Count ballots where Stub A has been removed so

long as there are no suspicious circumstances

present. (592 voters affected in 2012.)

Don’t ignore the Civil Rights Act’s requirement

that harmless paperwork errors must not

disqualify ballots.

Revise provisional ballot form and gather data

throughout the state on provisional ballots cast in

the wrong polling location so the problem can be

eradicated, voters will no longer be punished for

poll worker error, and votes can be counted.

(9,483 voters affected in 2012.)

CORRECT DEFECTIVE

BALLOTS & FORMS Ensure that essential voter instructions are not

left off of approved ballot designs like they were in

the 2014 primary.

Fix badly-designed provisional ballot forms that

resulted in double the number of ballots rejected

for a missing signature from 2008 to 2012.

A checklist for elected leaders to encourage voter participation in Ohio

Page 2 of 2

Source: U.S. Election Assistance Commission

Voting data from 2011-2012

Number of Motor Voter Registrations