Photo ID Required to Vote

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – As registration for the May 2nd, election ends Monday and early voting for that election begins Tuesday, changes to the voting procedure will be implemented and Muskingum County Board of Elections Specialist Cheryl West shared some of the details of the Special Election and some changes voters can expect.

“Anyone that would want to be eligible to vote for in the May election, if they need to update their name, update their address, or if they’re new to the area and want to be a first time registered voter in Muskingum County, they would need to have that done by 9 p.m. tonight. That is the deadline so that we can update everybody’s records and get everything where it needs to be, so people are eligible to vote,” West said.

Early voting for the May 2nd, election will begin tomorrow but only 13 of the county’s 68 precincts will have issues to vote on and there will not be any candidates running for office on the May 2nd ballot. 

Ohio voting laws have become more rigid toward preventing voter fraud by verifying your identification with a photo ID and mailing address for requesting an absentee ballot.

“A photo ID, a driver’s license is always accepted,” West said. “There’s now a state ID, which you can get at your license… drivers license bureau. You can also use your passport or a military ID. Those are your options. Things like car registrations or utility bills are no longer a valid source of ID for voting. Or you can vote by mail. But there again there’s another step involved. There’s an application that you have to fill out in order to get your ballot. We just can’t send you one, so we have to verify who you are and get it to the correct address. So you can vote from home if you choose to.”

West recommends voters visit their website or stop by the Board of Elections at 627 Market Street in Zanesville, to ask for a sample ballot that shows which precincts will have ballots available as well as the Board of Elections’ hours of operation.