Absentee Voting by Mail or in Person

You can vote absentee without a reason. Why wait? Go today to the Board of Elections located at 15 South Court, Athens, next to the Courthouse. Call the Board of Elections at 592-3201 for more information. The fax number for the Board of Elections is 592-3262.  Click here to print out an application to vote absentee.

Absentee Voting In Person

Where to Go

You can vote absentee in the Board of Elections Office located at 15 South Court next to the Courthouse.

When can you vote absentee?

Each week day before the election you can vote between 8:00am and 4:00pm. You can vote until Monday, March 3rd at 4:00pm. On Saturday, March 1st you can vote from 8:00am until 12:00 noon. In November you can vote until Monday November 3rd at 4:00PM. On Saturday, November 4th you can vote from 8:00am until 12:00noon.

How it works

When you go to vote at the Board of Elections you will fill out an application and the staff will give you a ballot and you will vote right there at that time in a voting booth. Be sure that your application and most importantly the envelope you place your ballot in are completely filled out correctly. Ask the staff to double check your envelope before you give it to them.

Voting Absentee by Mail

You must submit an application to vote absentee. You can do that by mail or by fax. Faxing it to the Board of Elections speeds things up as the ballot will probably be mailed that day. The fax number is 740-592-3262. However, to count you must return an original signed application to vote absentee with your ballot. You can send the one you faxed or print out a new one complete and sign it. There is no official application as long as it contains all the required information.

If you vote absentee your ballot must be in the Board of Elections by 7:30PM on Election Day. Do not deliver you ballot to your polling location as it will not count. Postmarking a local absentee ballot will not make it count. You can deliver your absentee ballot to the Board of Elections yourself or by a close family member. This can be done until 7:30pm on Election Day. If you need assistance in getting a ballot returned or for other information call 594-VOTE(8683).


Things that lead to ballots not counting are listed below.

1. Printing not signing your name. Also not using the signature on your voter registration card. They check each of these. If you have changed your signature tell them and ask to resign your voter registration card.

2. Putting the wrong address on the envelope your ballot goes into. You must put the address you are registered to vote at not your home address.

3. Not putting the correct last four digits of your social security number or Ohio driver’s license number. This number is located on the left side above your birth date it is not the number above your picture. The Board of Elections has this information and will double check it.

4. Not putting your date of birth or putting down the wrong date of birth. Remember not to accidently put the year 2008

5. Detaching the stub from the ballot. If you accidently do this include it in the envelope or if you are there at the office ask for a new ballot.