Each board of elections shall exercise by a majority vote all powers granted to the board by Title
XXXV of the Revised Code, shall perform all the duties imposed by law, and shall do all of the
following:
(A) Establish, define, provide, rearrange, and combine election precincts;
(B) Fix and provide the places for registration and for holding primaries and elections;
(C) Provide for the purchase, preservation, and maintenance of booths, ballot boxes, books, maps,
flags, blanks, cards of instructions, and other forms, papers, and equipment used in registration,
nominations, and elections;
(D) Appoint and remove its director, deputy director, and employees and all registrars, precinct
election officials, and other officers of elections, fill vacancies, and designate the ward or district and
precinct in which each shall serve;
(E) Make and issue rules and instructions, not inconsistent with law or the rules, directives, or
advisories issued by the secretary of state, as it considers necessary for the guidance of election
officers and voters;
(F) Advertise and contract for the printing of all ballots and other supplies used in registrations and
elections;
(G) Provide for the issuance of all notices, advertisements, and publications concerning elections,
except as otherwise provided in division (G) of section 3501.17 and divisions (F) and (G) of section
3505.062 of the Revised Code;
(H) Provide for the delivery of ballots, pollbooks, and other required papers and material to the
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polling places;
(I) Cause the polling places to be suitably provided with voting machines, marking devices,
automatic tabulating equipment, stalls, and other required supplies. In fulfilling this duty, each board
of a county that uses voting machines, marking devices, or automatic tabulating equipment shall
conduct a full vote of the board during a public session of the board on the allocation and distribution
of voting machines, marking devices, and automatic tabulating equipment for each precinct in the
county.
(J) Investigate irregularities, nonperformance of duties, or violations of Title XXXV of the Revised
Code by election officers and other persons; administer oaths, issue subpoenas, summon witnesses,
and compel the production of books, papers, records, and other evidence in connection with any such
investigation; and report the facts to the prosecuting attorney or the secretary of state;
(K)(1) Review, examine, and certify the sufficiency and validity of petitions and nomination papers,
and, after certification, return to the secretary of state all petitions and nomination papers that the
secretary of state forwarded to the board;
(2) Examine each initiative petition, or a petition filed under section 307.94 or 307.95 of the Revised
Code, received by the board to determine whether the petition falls within the scope of authority to
enact via initiative and whether the petition satisfies the statutory prerequisites to place the issue on
the ballot, as described in division (M) of section 3501.38 of the Revised Code. The petition shall be
invalid if any portion of the petition is not within the initiative power.
(L) Receive the returns of elections, canvass the returns, make abstracts of them, and transmit those
abstracts to the proper authorities;
(M) Issue certificates of election on forms to be prescribed by the secretary of state;
(N) Make an annual report to the secretary of state, on the form prescribed by the secretary of state,
containing a statement of the number of voters registered, elections held, votes cast, appropriations
received, expenditures made, and other data required by the secretary of state;
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(O) Prepare and submit to the proper appropriating officer a budget estimating the cost of elections
for the ensuing fiscal year;
(P) Perform other duties as prescribed by law or the rules, directives, or advisories of the secretary of
state;
(Q) Investigate and determine the residence qualifications of electors;
(R) Administer oaths in matters pertaining to the administration of the election laws;
(S) Prepare and submit to the secretary of state, whenever the secretary of state requires, a report
containing the names and residence addresses of all incumbent county, municipal, township, and
board of education officials serving in their respective counties;
(T) Establish and maintain a voter registration database of all qualified electors in the county who
offer to register;
(U) Maintain voter registration records, make reports concerning voter registration as required by the
secretary of state, and remove ineligible electors from voter registration lists in accordance with law
and directives of the secretary of state;
(V) Give approval to ballot language for any local question or issue and transmit the language to the
secretary of state for the secretary of state's final approval;
(W) Prepare and cause the following notice to be displayed in a prominent location in every polling
place:
"NOTICE
Ohio law prohibits any person from voting or attempting to vote more than once at the same election.
Violators are guilty of a felony of the fourth degree and shall be imprisoned and additionally may be
fined in accordance with law."
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(X) In all cases of a tie vote or a disagreement in the board, if no decision can be arrived at, the
director or chairperson shall submit the matter in controversy, not later than fourteen days after the
tie vote or the disagreement, to the secretary of state, who shall summarily decide the question, and
the secretary of state's decision shall be final.
(Y) Assist each designated agency, deputy registrar of motor vehicles, public high school and
vocational school, public library, and office of a county treasurer in the implementation of a program
for registering voters at all voter registration locations as prescribed by the secretary of state. Under
this program, each board of elections shall direct to the appropriate board of elections any voter
registration applications for persons residing outside the county where the board is located within
five days after receiving the applications.
(Z) On any day on which an elector may vote in person at the office of the board or at another site
designated by the board, consider the board or other designated site a polling place for that day. All
requirements or prohibitions of law that apply to a polling place shall apply to the office of the board
or other designated site on that day.
(AA) Perform any duties with respect to voter registration and voting by uniformed services and
overseas voters that are delegated to the board by law or by the rules, directives, or advisories of the
secretary of state.
(BB) Prepare an election administration plan and submit it to the secretary of state not later than
seventy-five days before each presidential primary election and not later than one hundred twenty
days before each general election held in an even-numbered year. The election administration plan
shall be on a template prescribed by the secretary of state and shall include all of the following:
(1) Precinct election official recruitment, training, and accountability;
(2) Resource allocation;
(3) Communication before and on the day of the election;
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(4) Materials;
(5) Contingencies and continuity planning;
(6) Security;
(7) Voter registration;
(8) Absent voting;
(9) Polling places and accessibility;
(10) Ballot preparation;
(11) Pre-election testing;
(12) Reconciliation and audits;
(13) A master calendar;
(14) Any other topic prescribed by the secretary of state.
Page 5§ 3501.11Board duties
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Primary source. The text above is the canonical statute body as it appears in this revision of the atlas. Verify against the official gazette before quoting in litigation or formal advice. Spot an error? Suggest a correction.