Portage County voters can find out how changes in Ohio election laws will affect them at three public meetings on March 27, 29 and 30 in Ravenna, Aurora and Kent.
The March 27 meeting will start at 7 p.m. at Reed Memorial Library, 167 E. Main St., Ravenna, followed by a meeting on March 29, 7 p.m., at the Aurora City Council Chambers, 130 S. Chillicothe Rd., Aurora. The final meeting will be March 30, 7 p.m., at Kent Free Library, 312 W. Main St., Kent. All meetings are free and open to the public.
The meetings have been organized by the League of Women Voters of Kent and the League of Women Voters of Northern Portage with co-sponsorship from the Kent Free Library, Reed Memorial Library, Brimfield Lions, NAACP of Portage County, Kent Environmental Council, Portage County National Alliance on Mental Illness, Kent Lions and Kent State University Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
The speaker will be Theresa Nielson, deputy director of the Portage County Board of Elections. Nielsen will talk about changes to in-person voting, voter registration, early voting which is also known as absentee voting, and other changes to the new law that went into effect in January of this year.
The biggest changes affect the types of identifications which can be used to vote and vary depending on how citizens choose to vote.
The Leagues will have forms available to apply for an absentee ballot and to register to vote. The deadline to register is April 3. Absentee voting applications can be submitted at any time but note that they need to be in the hands of the BOE by April 25 so voters can receive their ballots. Absentee ballots are mailed out starting April 4.
Early in-person voting at the Board of Elections begins April 4 and includes the Saturday and Sunday before Election Day. The schedule for in-office absentee voting has changed, with the elimination of voting at the Board of Elections the day prior to the election.
At the meeting, voters will also be able to check to see if they are still registered. More than 1,600 Portage County voters were purged from the rolls earlier this year by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.
Voters can find helpful resources here:
· Portage County Board of Elections: https://www.portagecounty-oh.gov/board-elections
· Voter ID Chart at the BOE Site: https://www.portagecounty-oh.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3706/f/uploads/voter_identification_requirement_chart_edited.pdf
· Ohio Secretary of State: https://www.sos.state.oh.us/elections/
· League of Women Voters of Kent: https://www.lwvkent.org
· League of Women Voters of Ohio: https://www.lwvo.org
· Call the League of Women Voters of Kent at 330-271-6188
Affiliates of the national organization, the League of Women Voters of Kent and the League of Women Voters of Northern Portage are nonpartisan political organizations encouraging the informed and active participation of citizens in government. Contact them at https://www.lwvkent.org and https://www.northernportagecountylwv.org.
