Section 3503.24 | Application for correction of precinct registration list or challenge of right to vote.
(A) Application for the correction of any precinct registration list or a challenge of the right to vote of any registered elector may be made by any qualified elector at the office of the board of elections not later than twenty days prior to the election. The applications or challenges, with the reasons for the application or challenge, shall be filed with the board i n person or by mail on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and shall be signed under penalty of election falsification.
(B) On receiving an application or challenge filed under this section, the board of elections promptly shall review the board's records. If the board is able to determine that an application or challenge should be granted or denied solely on the basis of the records maintained by the board, the board immediately shall vote to grant or deny that application or challenge.
If the board is not able to determine whether an application or challenge should be granted or denied solely on the basis of the records maintained by the board, the director shall promptly set a time and date for a hearing before the board. Except as otherwise provided in division (D) of this section, the hearing shall be held, and the application or challenge shall be decided, no later than ten days after the board receives the application or challenge. The director shall send written notice to any elector whose right to vote is challenged and to any person whose name is alleged to have been omitted from a registration list. The notice shall inform the person of the time and date of the hearing, and of the person's right to appear and testify, call witnesses, and be represented by counsel. The notice shall be sent by first class mail no later than three days before the day of any scheduled hearing. Except as otherwise provided in division (E) of this section, the director shall also provide the person who filed the application or challenge with such written notice of the date and time of the hearing.
At the request of either party or any member of the board, the board shall issue subpoenas to witnesses to appear and testify before the board at a hearing held under this section. All witnesses shall testify under oath. The board shall reach a decision on all applications and challenges immediately after hearing.
(C) If the board decides that any such person is not entitled to have the person's name on the registration list, the person's name shall be removed from the list and the person's registration forms canceled. If the board decides that the name of any such person should appear on the registration list, it shall be added to the list, and the person's registration forms placed in the proper registration files. All such corrections and additions shall be made on a copy of the precinct lists, which shall constitute the poll lists, to be furnished to the respective precincts with other election supplies on the day preceding the election, to be used by the election officials in receiving the signatures of voters and in checking against the registration forms.
(D)(1) If an application or challenge for which a hearing is required to be conducted under division (B) of this section is filed after the thirtieth day before the day of an election, the board of elections, in its discretion, may postpone that hearing and any notifications of that hearing until after the day of the election. Any hearing postponed under this division shall be conducted not later than ten days after the day of the election.
(2) The board of elections shall cause the name of any registered elector whose registration is challenged and whose challenge hearing is postponed under division (D)(1) of this section to be marked in the official registration list and in the poll list or signature pollbook for that elector's precinct to indicate that the elector's registration is subject to challenge.
(3) Any elector who is the subject of an application or challenge hearing that is postponed under division (D)(1) of this section shall be permitted to vote a provisional ballot under section 3505.181 of the Revised Code. The validity of a provisional ballot cast pursuant to this section shall be determined in accordance with section 3505.183 of the Revised Code, except that no such provisional ballot shall be counted unless the hearing conducted under division (B) of this section after the day of the election results in the elector's inclusion in the official registration list.
(E) If an elector who is the subject of an application or challenge hearing has a confidential voter registration record, as described in section 111.44 of the Revised Code, all of the following apply:
(1) If the elector's right to vote has been challenged, the person who filed the challenge shall not receive notice of the date and time of any hearing held concerning the challenge, shall not be permitted to attend the hearing, and shall not receive notice of the disposition of the challenge.
(2) If the elector is the subject of an application for the correction of the precinct registration list and the elector is not the person who filed the application, the person who filed the application shall not receive notice of the date and time of any hearing held concerning the application, shall not be permitted to attend the hearing, and shall not receive notice of the disposition of the application.
(3) Notwithstanding section 121.22 of the Revised Code, any hearing held concerning the application or challenge shall not be open to the public.
(4) Any records created as a result of the application or challenge that include the elector's residence address or precinct shall not be open to public inspection.
Available Versions of this Section
- August 15, 2012 – Senate Bill 295 - 129th General Assembly [ View August 15, 2012 Version ]
- September 8, 2016 – House Bill 359 - 131st General Assembly [ View September 8, 2016 Version ]
- March 20, 2019 – Amended by House Bill 41 - 132nd General Assembly [ View March 20, 2019 Version ]