With just under two weeks left until Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has received more than 53,000 vote by mail ballots. There is still time to request an absentee ballot; the deadline is Oct. 29. Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 4. You can also return your absentee ballot in-person to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, 2925 Euclid Ave., before the polls close at 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

Better than last time but still needs work

Cuyahoga county voters are doing a better job completing their 2024 vote-by-mail ballot applications than they did during the November 2020 presidential election.

In a statement, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections said it received more than 38,000 invalid applications for the 2020 election, which is about 11% of all applications received.

So far in the 2024 race, the board has received just under 10,000 invalid applications, which is close to 6% of all applications received. Of these, approximately half have been corrected with a new vote-by-mail ballot application, the board of elections said.

What is the most common mistake on the application?

An incorrect date of birth. In some cases, voters are entering the day’s date instead of their birth date. Some folks are leaving the line blank. The board recommends setting aside plenty of time to fill out the absentee ballot application and double-check your work.

Voters who submit an invalid absentee ballot application have options. They can return the application with the correction(s), vote during the early in-person voting period or on Election Day.

🗳️For more on this year’s November election, visit our Election Signals 2024 page.

New ballot drop box rules 

Voters returning absentee ballots need to be aware of new rules around the drop box at county boards of election. 

An August directive from Secretary of State Frank LaRose says that if a person is dropping off a ballot for someone else, they must sign a form saying one of the following is true:

(1) That they are returning a ballot on behalf of a family member under R.C. 3509.05 (C)(1), and that they have been lawfully designated to assist another voter with the return of an absentee ballot;  

(2) If the person is assisting a disabled voter, that they are complying with Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act and that they are not the voter’s employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of the voter’s union.  

The new rules define a close relative as: spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, son, daughter, adopted parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece.

The approved list does not include cousins, step-siblings, siblings-in-law or grandchildren. 

Voters with disabilities also are allowed to have people deliver their completed ballots on their behalf. There are no restrictions on who this can be.

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Weekends added to early voting hours

Ohio provides two weekends for early in-person voting with the first starting this Saturday. Here are the remaining early in-person voting hours for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections:

There is NO early in-person voting on Monday, Nov. 4.