Important Primary Election Dates and Info

Information from the Miami County Board of Elections

TROY - Voters across Ohio will head to the polls in early May for the state’s primary election, a process that determines which candidates advance to the November general election ballot.

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   A primary election allows voters affiliated with a political party to select their party’s nominees for public office. Candidates who win a primary do not take office; instead, they move on to the general election, where all registered voters — regardless of party affiliation — may vote for any candidate.

 

   In Ohio, voters do not declare a party affiliation when registering to vote. Party affiliation is established by the ballot a voter requests during a primary election. By choosing a Democratic, Republican or Libertarian ballot, the voter becomes affiliated with that party. That affiliation remains in place until the voter selects a different party ballot in a future primary election.

 

   Voters who wish to remain unaffiliated may request an issues-only ballot, which does not affiliate them with any political party.

 

Several important deadlines lead up to Election Day:

• The voter registration deadline is April 6.

• Early in-person voting and absentee voting by mail both begin April 7.

• Voters requesting an absentee ballot must do so by April 28, and completed absentee ballots must be postmarked by May 4 to be counted.

• Election Day is May 5, when polls will be open statewide.

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  Additional information on voting locations, early voting hours and absentee ballot requests is available through local boards of elections.