§ 3501.29Polling places

(A) The board of elections shall provide for each precinct a polling place and provide adequate
facilities at each polling place for conducting the election. The board shall provide a sufficient
number of screened or curtained voting compartments to which electors may retire and conveniently
mark their ballots, protected from the observation of others. Each voting compartment shall be
provided at all times with writing implements, instructions how to vote, and other necessary
conveniences for marking the ballot. The voting location manager shall ensure that the voting
compartments at all times are adequately lighted and contain the necessary supplies. The board shall
utilize, in so far as practicable, rooms in public schools and other public buildings for polling places.
Upon application of the board of elections, the authority which has the control of any building or
grounds supported by taxation under the laws of this state, shall make available the necessary space
therein for the purpose of holding elections and adequate space for the storage of voting machines,
without charge for the use thereof. A reasonable sum may be paid for necessary janitorial service.
When polling places are established in private buildings, the board may pay a reasonable rental
therefor, and also the cost of liability insurance covering the premises when used for election
purposes, or the board may purchase a single liability policy covering the board and the owners of
the premises when used for election purposes. When removable buildings are supplied by the board,
they shall be constructed under the contract let to the lowest and best bidder, and the board shall
observe all ordinances and regulations then in force as to safety. The board shall remove all such
buildings from streets and other public places within thirty days after an election, unless another
election is to be held within ninety days.


(B)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the board shall ensure all of the following:


(a) That polling places are free of barriers that would impede ingress and egress of persons with
disabilities;


(b) That the minimum number of accessible parking locations for persons with mobility disabilities
are designated at each polling place in accordance with 28 C.F.R. Part 36, Appendix A, and in



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compliance with division (E) of section 4511.69 of the Revised Code;


(c) That the entrances of polling places are level or are provided with a nonskid ramp that meets the
requirements of the "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990," 104 Stat. 327, 42 U.S.C. 12101;


(d) That doors are a minimum of thirty-two inches wide.


(2) Notwithstanding division (B)(1)(a), (c), or (d) of this section, certain polling places may be
specifically exempted by the secretary of state upon certification by a board of elections that a good
faith, but unsuccessful, effort has been made to modify, or change the location of, such polling
places.


(C) The board of elections shall permit any elector with a disability who travels to that elector's
polling place, but who is physically unable to enter the polling place, to vote, with the assistance of
two polling place officials of major political parties, in the vehicle that conveyed that elector to the
polling place, or to receive and cast that elector's ballot at the door of the polling place. Under no
other circumstance may an elector vote in a vehicle or at the door of a polling place.


(D) The secretary of state shall:


(1) Work with other state agencies to facilitate the distribution of information and technical
assistance to boards of elections to meet the requirements of division (B) of this section;


(2) Work with organizations that represent or provide services to citizens who are elderly or who
have disabilities to effect a wide dissemination of information about the availability of absentee
voting, voting in the voter's vehicle or at the door of the polling place, or other election services to
citizens who are elderly or who have disabilities.


(E) Before the day of an election, the director of the board of elections of each county shall sign a
statement verifying that each polling place that will be used in that county at that election meets the
requirements of division (B)(1)(b) of this section. The signed statement shall be sent to the secretary
of state by certified mail or electronically.




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The Legislative Service Commission presents the text of this section as a composite of the section as amended
by multiple acts of the General Assembly. This presentation recognizes the principle stated in R.C. 1.52(B)
that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation.




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