Today is Issue 1 Election Day: Where to Vote, What to Bring

A controversial new law requires voters to present a valid ID to vote in person in Ohio. Here's what you need to bring, and where to vote.

By Madeline Fening on Tue, Aug 8, 2023 at 11:09 am

[
      {
        "name": "Real 1 Placeholder",
        "component": "12272316",
        "insertPoint": "3",
        "requiredCountToDisplay": "5"
      },{
        "name": "Ad - NativeInline - Injected",
        "component": "12277917",
        "insertPoint": "2/3",
        "requiredCountToDisplay": "9"
      }
    ]

click to enlarge

Photo: Jenna Jones

Here's everything you need to know for Aug. 8 special election day.

Today, Aug. 8, is a special election held by the state to vote on Issue 1.

In a nutshell, voting NO means you want to keep the requirements to change the Ohio Constitution the same with a simple majority of 50% plus one vote. Voting YES means you want to raise the threshold to change the Ohio Constitution to a 60% majority, which would make it harder to get citizen-initiated amendments on the ballot and passed.

Here's everything you need to know for Aug. 8 special election day.

Where to vote

The polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 8. Absentee ballots are due by close of polls.

Only voters with an unreported change of address can vote at the Board of Elections office in Norwood on election day, everyone else should report to their assigned polling location. If you're not sure where you're supposed to go to vote, click this link and select your county. From there, you'll scroll down to where it says "Find Your Polling Location" and enter your home address.

If you're unsure of the results that pop up, or you get an error message, call the Board of Elections at (513) 632-7000 to confirm your registration status.

If you live in Hamilton County, there's a slight chance your polling location has moved since the last time you voted. These are the polling locations that have recently moved:

Cincinnati 12E at the Corryville Library has moved to the Corryville Recreation Center at 2823 Eden Avenue.
Cincinnati 8C at Playhouse in the Park has moved to the Cincinnati Park Board at 950 Eden Park Drive.
Indian Hill A and B have moved from the Indian Hill Church to the Madeira-Indian Hill Fire Department at 6475 Drake Road.
Springfield Township G and Z have moved from the Springfield Township Arts Connect Center to the Northminster Presbyterian Church at 703 Compton Road.

What you need to bring

A controversial new law requires voters to present a valid ID to vote in person in Hamilton County. Acceptable forms of ID include:

Ohio driver's license
State of Ohio ID card
Interim ID form issued by the Ohio BMV
U.S. passport or passport card
U.S. military ID card
Ohio National Guard ID card
US Department of Veterans Affairs ID card

All photo IDs must have the following:

An expiration date that has not passed
A photograph of the voter
The voter’s name, which must substantially conform to the voter’s name as it appears in the poll list or in the poll book.

What is Issue 1?

The Aug. 8 special election has just one item on the ballot: Issue 1, which Republicans have brought forward to make it harder for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution. By raising the threshold of approval from 50% to 60%, the ballot issue would mean that a simple majority, or 50% plus one vote, would no longer be enough to amend the Ohio Constitution.

Passing Issue 1 would impair voters' ability to legalize abortion in the state, which is set for state ballots in November. At first, Ohio Republicans argued the change was to protect the state from outside interference. But, according to Ohio Capital Journal/WEWS, LaRose said during a May 22 Seneca County Lincoln Day dinner that Issue 1 is “100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution.”

Other initiatives that would be impacted include proposals on marijuana and raising the minimum wage.

The Republicans in the state have brought forward Issue 1, saying it's meant to protect Ohio's Constitution from outside influence. During a televised debate in July, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Issue 1 is "empowering the people of Ohio to protect their constitution from out-of-state special interests that want to try to buy their way into our state’s founding document."

But those who are pushing for Issue 1 and those who oppose it have fundraised the vast majority of their campaign dollars from outside the state, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Need to catch up? These stories go more in-depth on Issue 1:

Tags:

About The Author

Madeline Fening

Madeline Fening on Instagram

Email Madeline Fening

Madeline Fening is CityBeat’s investigative news reporter. Proudly born and raised in Middletown, she attended Bowling Green State University before moving to Austin, Texas where she dabbled in documentary filmmaking, digital news and bartending. Madeline then moved to Cincinnati to work for WCPO 9 News as an...

Scroll to read more Cincinnati News articles