Voter information

Maintained by

Kara R

Revised

October 7, 2024

If you have questions about registering to vote, you've come to the right place! Use the information in this handy guide to take it a step further. Identify your polling location and determine which candidates and issues will be on the upcoming ballot. Become a better-informed voter by checking out the links to voter guides and fact-checking sites, too!

How to vote

Ohio Secretary of State: Registering to Vote

Find forms necessary to register to vote in Ohio, to change a name or address and to request an absentee ballot. All forms must be mailed to the county board of elections in the voter's county of residence.

You must register or update your voter registration no later than 30 days prior to an election. Voter registration deadlines for area elections in 2024 are:

February 20, 2024 for the March 19, 2024 Primary Election
October 7, 2024 for the November 5, 2024 General Election

If you register or update your information after the deadline, the change will apply for the next election.

Franklin County Board of Elections

Find sample ballots, information on locations and times for early voting (also known as in-person absentee voting) and details on what a voter must bring to the polls on Election Day. Voters can look up their precinct location and check their registration to make sure their information is correct. Information on absentee voting is available, including the ability to sign up to track your ballot when voting by USPS mail.

Delaware County Board of Elections

Delaware County Board of Elections' website gives information on candidates and issues, absentee voting and voter registration and deadlines. Voters can also look up their precinct location. The application for an absentee ballot (PDF) is available for download; you can also check your absentee request.

Where to vote

Franklin County Voter Inquiry

Franklin County voters can look up polling locations and sample ballots by name or address and voting locations by precinct. The site also lists what type of identification to bring with you to the polls on Election Day.

Find Your Polling Location

Voters from any Ohio county can find voting locations by address.

Candidates and issues

Franklin County Election Info

This page from the Franklin County Board of Elections links to a list of campaign websites, mailing addresses and e-mail contact information for candidates running for offices such as U.S. representative, state senator, state representative, county engineer, county auditor and more.

Judge the Candidates

The Columbus Bar Association uses the results of polls of its membership of thousands of legal professionals along as well as candidate statements to provide non-partisan information about judicial candidates in Franklin County.

Voter guides

Elections Guide

The Columbus Dispatch compiles stories about local, state and national elections stories. Learn about candidates and issues, follow polling and check on election results.

VoteOhio.gov

This online resource from Ohio's Secretary of State provides detailed information about voter eligibility, registration, Election Day procedures, sample ballots and ballot tracking and rules for absentee and provisional voting.

VOTE411.org

Launched by the League of Women Voters, VOTE411.org aims to be a one-stop shop for election information, offering everything from absentee ballot information and election dates to polling place information and factual data on candidates in various federal, state and local races. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that works to inform voters of public policy issues. Print copies of their Voter Information Bulletin will be available in all Worthington Libraries locations.

Other information on candidates

Federal Elections Commission Searchable Database

Provides detailed information about the contributions to and expenditures by candidates for federal offices as well as the money spent by national political parties, congressional campaign committees and other entities that attempt to influence the outcome of elections for federal offices.

Franklin County Campaign Finance Reports

Review the contributions to candidates' campaigns for local office and the county's political parties, as well as money raised and spent related to local issues on the ballot.

Ohio Campaign Finance Searchable Database

A searchable database of information from the Ohio Secretary of State about the contributions and expenditures by candidates for statewide and General Assembly offices, as well as the money collected and spent by state political parties, political action committees and legislative campaign committees.

OpenSecrets.org

The Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in Politics joined forces to form OpenSecrets. The nonpartisan nonprofit focuses on information and reporting on campaign donations and lobbying. Their website offers a searchable database of donors, lobbyists, organizations and political recipients.

Project Vote Smart

A nonpartisan organization dedicated to voter education, the Project Vote Smart website contains a plethora of information including information on candidates' voting records, biographical information, public statements and ratings by various interest groups. The website also includes information on state-wide ballot measures.

District maps

Ohio General Assembly Maps

This website from the Ohio Secretary of State outlines the boundaries of U.S. Congressional Districts in Ohio as well as districts for the Ohio House and Senate, the Appeals Court and the State School Board of Ohio.

Political fact-checking

As political messages proliferate, some news and nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations have created websites dedicated to verifying the accuracy of statements made in political advertisements, debates and public appearances. Additionally, fact-checking sites, such as the ones listed below, try to identify the missing context and sources for assertions made by the candidates or the organizations working on their behalf. Some sites score an ad or comment on a scale ranging from entirely true to totally false.

AP Fact Check

The Associated Press fact checks politicians and social media stories for distribution in multiple media outlets.

The Fact Checker

The Fact Checker is written by Glenn Kessler and published by the Washington Post.

FactCheck.org

FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

PolitiFact

PolitiFact is a project of the Tampa Bay Times, owned by the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit school for journalism created by one of the Times' previous publishers to ensure the newspaper's independence.

PolitiFact Ohio

Staff from the Cleveland Plain Dealer provides analysis of ads and comments by local and state politicians in this Ohio edition of PolitiFact, which also includes PolitiFact's national content.

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Kara R

I am the library's digital library manager. I like to read fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction and retellings, especially extra-long tomes. When it comes to music, give me anything with a groove and some soul.