Seasons Change. The Importance of Voting Doesn’t.
When election cycles last forever, it can be easy to tune out the constant thrum of attack ads and mailers and fundraising texts and headlines and on and on. But as summer comes to a close and Ohio’s leaves start to turn, it’s time to tune back in.
Elections are critical to health and human services. The people we elect to represent us are responsible for setting the budgets that fund us, the regulations that direct our work, and the revenue policies that keep us sustainable. For the people our work serves — namely, the millions of Ohioans who engage with the public system every day and the millions more who benefit from seeing their communities thrive — elections are often what determine which services will even be available to them.
For nonpartisan nonprofits like Advocates for Ohio’s Future, educating and assisting citizens in accessing their right to vote is mission critical. Now is the time to make your plan to vote, and to engage your neighbors and members of your community in making theirs.
2026 November Election Schedule
October 5: Final day to register to vote
October 6: Early voting in-person & absentee vote by mail begins
Early in-person voting takes place at your county board of elections. Find the address here.
October 27: Final day for boards of elections to receive absentee ballot applications
Don’t wait! Request absentee ballots by mail now!
November 3: Election Day!
Polls are open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Find your polling place here.
Non-overseas absentee ballots must be received by local boards of elections
All this information, and more, is available online at VoteOhio.gov.
Know Before You Go
With so many federal, state, and local seats and issues up for a vote this year, we can expect some ballots in Ohio to be multiple pages long. When talking with potential voters, it’s important to remind them to check over all pages and make sure they vote on every item. One way to make this even more straightforward is to encourage folks to check out their sample ballot ahead of time.
Find your sample ballot online.
If sample ballots are not yet ready in your county, you can still find the district in which you live and determine which representatives you will be voting on.
When heading to the polls, voters must bring a valid photo ID. In January of 2023, HB 458 changed Ohio’s election laws so that individuals can no longer use documents like utility bills or bank statements to identify themselves. Student IDs are also not valid for voting. The Ohio Mobile ID is not valid. In-person voting requires one of the following forms of photo ID:
Ohio driver license, State of Ohio ID card, or interim ID form issued by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV).
A United States (U.S.) passport or U.S. passport card.
A U.S. military ID card, U.S. military dependent ID card, Ohio National Guard ID card, or U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ID card.
Individuals who have received citizenship but whose ID still has the “noncitizen” identifier must bring additional proof of citizenship in order to vote, such as a birth certificate, U.S. passport, certificate of naturalization or citizenship or form showing an approved application to replace a naturalization document.
Encourage Others to Vote - But Not Who to Vote For
501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are prohibiting from directly or indirectly participating in political campaigns for candidates. However, nonpartisan activity such as voter education, registration, and ballot issue-based advocacy is allowed. This is crucial to ensuring all Ohioans, regardless of their beliefs, have trustworthy, unbiased organizations to turn to when they have questions or need help accessing their right to vote.
For more information about nonprofit participation in voter engagement, check out these resources: