Monday is deadline to register to vote in Ohio’s May 8 primary election. Statewide, some big primaries will determine who will move on to the November general election and potentially win seats in the Ohio House, Senate and Governor’s office.
Those are some hotly contested races taking place at the state level so interest may be higher than normal in this off-year election. Llyn McCoy with the Greene County Board of Elections says young people who will turn eighteen years old before the general election are able to register and vote in the primary if they’re still seventeen.
“A couple of caveats though," she says. "You can only vote for candidates to be nominated forward to the general election ballot in November. So, what that really means seventeen year-old voters cannot vote on issues and they can’t vote on state-central or county-central committee candidates because those folks are actually elected at the primary.”
McCoy says it’s also important that voters already registered verify their information is correct to avoid election day hassles.
“You can go to our website and actually there’s a voter look-up tool. Just make sure that your information is accurate before Monday and if it’s not it’s real easy, again online, to go ahead and update your information so that your all set for election day.”
You can register to vote until 9pm, Monday April 9, and find out more about state and local elections taking place at your county board of elections website.
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