Ohio elections, 2023

Ballotpedia is the digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections. Our goal is to inform people about politics by providing accurate and objective information about politics at all levels of government. We are firmly committed to neutrality in our content.

This page provides information on the 2023 elections in Ohio, including the offices on the ballot covered by Ballotpedia, election dates, and frequently asked questions.

Election dates

Statewide election dates in Ohio are listed below. For more dates, please see the elections calendar.

Statewide election dates

August 8, 2023: Special election
November 7, 2023: General election

Offices on the ballot

Noteworthy elections

Below is a list of races in this state that received in-depth coverage on Ballotpedia. Click the link below to learn about that race.

• Mentor Exempted Village School District, Ohio, elections (2023)
• South-Western City Schools, Ohio, elections (2023)

Statewide ballot measures

See also: Ohio 2023 ballot measures

August 8, 2023

November 7, 2023

Frequently asked questions

When are the polls open?

6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.^[1]
See State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2023) for more information

Where can I find election results?

Election results are posted on Ballotpedia's election overview pages, as well as the relevant candidate pages. You can find links to the current election overview pages in the "Offices on the ballot" section of this page.

How do primaries work in Ohio?

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Ohio utilizes an open primary system. In an open primary system, a voter does not have to register with a political party beforehand in order to vote in that party's primary. In Ohio, voters select their preferred party primary ballots at their polling places on Election Day.^[2][3][4][5]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

How do I register to vote?

Check your voter registration status here.

To register to vote in Ohio, an applicant must be a United States citizen, a resident of Ohio for at least 30 days before the election, and at least 18 years old by the day of the election. Individuals who are incarcerated for a felony conviction, have been declared by a court to be incompetent for voting purposes, or have been permanently disenfranchised may not register to vote.^[6]

Applicants may register to vote online, in person, or by mail. The Ohio Voter Registration and Information Update Form is available online and can be requested by mail. In-person voter registration is available at various locations including the secretary of state and board of elections offices, Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices, public libraries and high schools, and other state agencies. A full list of locations is available here.

The deadline to register to vote is 30 days before the next election. An Ohio driver’s license number, state ID card number, or the last four digits of a SSN is required in order to register to vote or update a voter registration.^[7][8]

Is there an early voting period?

See also: Early voting

Ohio permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.

Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit no-excuse early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day. States that allow voters to cast no-excuse absentee ballots in person are counted as no-excuse early voting states.

As of February 2024, 47 states and the District of Columbia permitted no-excuse early voting.^[9]

Who is eligible for absentee voting?

See also: Absentee/mail-in voting

All voters are eligible to vote absentee in Ohio. There are no special eligibility requirements for voting absentee.^[10]

Absentee ballots may be requested for each individual election beginning on January 1, or 90 days before the date of an election, whichever is earlier. The request must be received by the local county board of elections by the close of business on the seventh day before the election. A returned absentee ballot must then be postmarked at least one day before Election Day and received by the elections board no later than 4 days after the election.^[10][11]

What are the voter ID laws in Ohio?

See Voter identification laws by state.

How do I file to run for office?

See Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Ohio for information on how to run for state or federal office.

What does Ballotpedia cover?

Ballotpedia's coverage extends to all elections on the federal level, all gubernatorial, state legislative, statewide ballot measure, and statewide judicial elections, as well as many other types of state executive offices. Ballotpedia also covers all elections in the U.S. territories, but not elections in other countries.

Local election coverage includes comprehensive ballot coverage for municipal and judicial elections in the top 100 cities by population and races for the large counties that overlap them. In the state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities, it includes coverage of mayoral, city council, and district attorney elections. It also includes school board elections in the top 200 largest school districts by enrollment, all California local ballot measures, and notable local ballot measures from across the nation.

Please note that Ballotpedia's election coverage does not encompass all local offices. Election information is not published in a timely manner for many local offices, which makes it infeasible to gather the necessary data given our limited resources. However, Ballotpedia's coverage scope for local elections continues to grow, and you can use Ballotpedia's sample ballot tool to see what local elections we are covering in your area.

How do I contact Ballotpedia with a question?

Email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Local election officials

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Do you need information about elections in your area? Are you looking for your local election official? Click here to visit the U.S. Vote Foundation and use their election official lookup tool.

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Redistricting following the 2020 census

This section lists major events in the post-2020 census redistricting cycle in reverse chronological order. Major events include the release of apportionment data, the release of census population data, the introduction of formal map proposals, the enactment of new maps, and noteworthy court challenges. Click the dates below for additional information.

• November 27, 2023: The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the state's legislative maps, dismissing several lawsuits against them.^[12][13]
• September 7, 2023: The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed Huffman v. Neiman after the petitioners who filed the original lawsuit requested the court to dismiss the case and leave the boundaries in place for the 2024 election.^[14][15]
• June 30, 2023: The U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Ohio Supreme Court's decision that ruled the congressional district boundaries that the Ohio Redistricting Commission adopted on March 2, 2022, were unconstitutional. SCOTUS remanded the case back to the state supreme court for consideration in light of SCOTUS' decision in Moore v. Harper.^[16]
• July 19, 2022: The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision that the congressional district boundaries that the Ohio Redistricting Commission adopted on March 2, 2022, were unconstitutional. The 2022 congressional elections will take place using the boundaries the redistricting commission adopted in March 2022 and the state supreme court directed the Ohio General Assembly to pass a compliant plan within 30 days.
• May 28, 2022: A federal court ruling took effect, which ordered the use of legislative maps approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission in February for the 2022 elections.
• May 25, 2022: The Ohio Supreme Court rejected the Ohio Redistricting Commission's resubmitted legislative maps and ordered the commission to redraw them.
• May 5, 2022: The Ohio Redistricting Commission voted to resubmit maps it had approved on February 24 to the Ohio Supreme Court.
• April 20, 2022: A federal court ruled that if legislative maps were not approved by the state court by May 28, the federal court would order an August 2 primary election date using the third set of maps approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission.
• April 14, 2022: The Ohio Supreme Court rejected the Ohio Redistricting Commission's redrawn legislative maps and ordered the commission to redraw them.
• March 28, 2022: The Ohio Redistricting Commission voted to approve redrawn legislative maps.
• March 21, 2022: A lawsuit was filed challenging the March 2 congressional map (Neiman v. LaRose).
• March 18, 2022: The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to overturn the redrawn congressional map approved by the redistricting commission on March 2.
• March 7, 2022: The Ohio Supreme Court rejected the Ohio Redistricting Commission's redrawn legislative maps and ordered the commission to redraw them.
• March 2, 2022: The Ohio Redistricting Commission voted 5-2 to approve a redrawn congressional map.
• February 24, 2022: The Ohio Redistricting Commission voted 4-3 to approve redrawn legislative maps.
• February 18, 2022: A federal lawsuit was filed against the Ohio Redistricting Commission. The lawsuit asked the district court to enact the second set of legislative maps that had previously been struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court (Gonidakis v. Ohio Redistricting Commission).
• February 17, 2022: The Ohio Redistricting Commission did not meet the court-ordered deadline to draw new legislative maps.
• February 9, 2022: Ohio legislative leaders said they would not draw a new congressional map, meaning the Ohio Redistricting Commission assumed responsibility for drawing the map.
• February 7, 2022: The Ohio Supreme Court struck down the Ohio Redistricting Commission's second set of approved legislative maps and ordered the commission to redraw them within 10 days.
• January 25, 2022: The plaintiffs in three cases challenging the state legislative maps filed objections against the revised legislative maps (Ohio Organizing Collaborative v. Ohio Redistricting Commission, Bennett v. Ohio Redistricting Commission, and League of Women Voters of Ohio v. Ohio Redistricting Commission).
• January 22, 2022: The Ohio Redistricting Commission voted 5-2 to approve a new set of state legislative maps.
• January 14, 2022: The Ohio Supreme Court ruled against the state's enacted congressional map and ordered the Ohio State Legislature to redraw it.
• January 12, 2022: The Ohio Supreme Court ruled against the state's enacted legislative maps and ordered the Ohio Redistricting Commission to redraw them within 10 days.
• November 30, 2021:
  • A second lawsuit was filed in the Ohio Supreme Court challenging Ohio's enacted congressional map (League of Women Voters of Ohio v. DeWine).
  • A federal lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio challenging Ohio's enacted congressional and state Senate maps (Simon v. DeWine).
• November 22, 2021: A lawsuit was filed in the Ohio Supreme Court challenging Ohio's enacted congressional map (Adams v. DeWine).
• November 20, 2021: Governor Mike DeWine (R) signed the congressional map into law.
• November 18, 2021: The Ohio House of Representatives approved the congressional map in a 55-36 vote.
• November 16, 2021: The Ohio State Senate voted 24-7 to approve the congressional map.
• November 15, 2021: Members of the Ohio State Legislature released their final congressional map proposal.
• October 31, 2021: The Ohio Redistricting Commission did not enact maps before the second deadline for congressional map enactment.
• September 30, 2021: The state legislature did not enact maps before the first deadline for congressional map enactment.
• September 27, 2021: A third lawsuit was filed in the Ohio Supreme Court challenging Ohio's enacted legislative maps (Ohio Organizing Collaborative v. Ohio Redistricting Commission).
• September 24, 2021: A second lawsuit was filed in the Ohio Supreme Court challenging Ohio's enacted legislative maps (Bennett v. Ohio Redistricting Commission).
• September 23, 2021: A lawsuit was filed in the Ohio Supreme Court challenging Ohio's enacted legislative maps (League of Women Voters of Ohio v. Ohio Redistricting Commission).
• September 16, 2021: The U.S. Census Bureau released data from the 2020 census in an easier-to-use format to state redistricting authorities and the public.
• September 15, 2021: The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved state legislative maps for four years in a 5-2 commission vote.
• September 9, 2021: Members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission released legislative redistricting proposals.
• August 31, 2021: Members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission released legislative redistricting proposals.
• August 12, 2021: The U.S. Census Bureau delivered redistricting data to states in a legacy format.
• April 26, 2021: The U.S. Census Bureau delivered apportionment counts.

Footnotes

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