Statewide Absentee Ballot Application Mailing Frequently Asked Questions
Ohio law authorizes the Secretary of State to mail a general election absentee ballot application to every lawfully registered voter. The funding for the mailing must be approved by the Ohio General Assembly through the Controlling Board, a seven-member, bipartisan committee that authorizes certain state expenditures (see Ohio Revised Code Section 111.31). The mailing does not contain an actual ballot. Registered voters who receive this mailing may complete and return the application to request a mail-in ballot for the November 3, 2026 general election. A voter who does not wish to vote absentee by mail can simply discard the application.
Yes. This mailing has been sent by multiple administrations in every even-year general election for the past 14 years.
No. Applications are sent to all lawfully registered voters in each even-year general election; however, anyone can access and download an application online at any time.
The Ohio General Assembly approved a statewide mailing of applications in response to several of Ohio’s larger counties paying to mail applications only to their own local voters, creating an unfair disparity with counties that lack the financial resources to do so. The larger counties were attempting to exploit a partisan advantage in voter registration that favored one major political party over another. State lawmakers voted to end the disparity by sending an application to all lawfully registered voters.
Federal law doesn’t allow election officials to cancel a voter registration simply because the voter has moved to a new address. Instead, the voter is placed in a “confirmation” status and sent a forwardable notice asking them to confirm or update their registration information. A voter in confirmation status remains registered to vote. If the voter responds to the notice, updates their registration, or votes during the confirmation period, the registration is updated or returned to active status as appropriate. If the voter does not respond or update the registration and does not vote for the required period, the registration may eventually be canceled. Under Ohio law, that generally means a period encompassing two consecutive federal general elections, typically about four years.
These registrations are managed under Ohio’s Supplemental Process, another form of voter list maintenance upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. This process is designed to remove registrations that may be outdated, even when the Postal Service has not reported a move. If a voter registration shows no signs of voter-initiated activity for two years, it can be placed in “confirmation” status, which allows for removal from the voter rolls after two consecutive federal elections, typically four years (for a total of six years).
Federal law requires registrations in “confirmation” status to be treated the same as all active and lawful registrations. Election officials are prohibited from removing a registration just because the Postal Service reports a move or because it otherwise becomes inactive. This prevents someone from canceling your registration just by fraudulently submitting a change-of-address form on your behalf. The law requires inactive registrations to undergo a “confirmation” process in which the voter is given the opportunity to confirm that the registration should be changed or canceled before removal.
We take election security seriously. Any individual who attempts to fraudulently submit an absentee ballot application or a ballot commits a felony offense punishable by fine and imprisonment. Any suspicion of unlawful election activity can be referred to the Secretary of State’s Election Integrity Unit for investigation and possible prosecution. Additionally, the ballot application form is readily available to anyone who has access to the internet. An application is not a ballot. The mail-in ballot itself follows a verification process under strict bipartisan oversight, and multiple forms of voter identification must be validated before an absentee ballot can be received, processed, and counted.
It’s not common, but it’s possible. Any time a mailing is sent to nearly 8 million people, there will be anomalies. Ohio’s voter registration database is constantly changing as registered voters die, move, update names or addresses, or become ineligible. Election officials constantly maintain the database to keep it as accurate and up to date as possible. Federal law is designed to prevent registration records from being removed quickly in error, so voters are given time to “confirm” their status.
Yes! We have worked with the Ohio General Assembly to expand our authority to analyze data from this statewide mailing to investigate undeliverable or inaccurate addresses. Mailing to the entire statewide voter list helps us identify problematic registrations that our office and the county boards of elections will work together to review and remedy.