The 2023 Ohio law limiting the forms of identification people can use to vote continues to affect the final count, but it’s not the most common reason that some ballots are rejected, according to new data from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
In the recent general election, 14,390 county residents voted by provisional ballot. A provisional ballot is offered when there is some question about a voter’s eligibility. Provisional ballots are counted after Election Day, giving the board of elections staff and those voters time to clear up the confusion, if possible.
More than 70% of provisional ballots were accepted. The remaining 3,086 were rejected for a variety of reasons. The most common — accounting for 59% of all rejections — was that the voter was not registered.
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The second most common reason: lacking an acceptable form of ID. That accounted for 440 rejections, or about 14% — more than four times the rate in the 2020-2023 elections, before Ohio’s new voter ID law took effect.
Ohio doesn’t make it easy to vote
The board of elections does not keep data on why people show up to the polls thinking they’re registered when they aren’t, but spokesperson Mike West offered some guesses.
• “People don’t realize it has been more than six years since they last voted, so they discover they are no longer registered.”
(Ohio is one of several states to “purge” voters from registration lists for not voting and is one of only two states to do so after a voter has missed just two federal elections, according to Innovation Ohio.)
• “People register after the deadline and didn’t realize they missed the deadline and try to vote.”
(In Ohio the deadline to register is 30 days before the election.)
• “People think when they renew their driver’s license or get a new one upon moving to Ohio they are automatically registered and do not complete a voter registration card.”
(Twenty-five states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan, offer some form of automatic voter registration.)
• “People are released from incarceration and don’t realize they have re-register to restore their right to vote.”
(Anyone who moves, even within the same city, also must re-register.)
Only you can prevent rejected provisional ballots
The board of elections estimates that 12% of rejections could be avoided with improved training of poll workers. The rest is on voters.
Cuyahoga County residents can check their registration status at any time on the board of elections’ web site. Check early and often!
In 2025, residents will have the chance to cast votes for city-level offices in the May 6 primary and Nov. 4 general elections. Some Clevelanders will vote in newly drawn council wards.
Ohioans who are 17 years and older can obtain a free photo ID card, acceptable for voting, from the BMV.
