§ 3503.02Residence determination rules

All registrars and precinct election officials, in determining the residence of a person offering
to register or vote, shall be governed by the following rules:
(A) That place shall be considered the residence of a person in which the person's habitation
is fixed and to which, whenever the person is absent, the person has the intention of
returning.
(B) A person shall not be considered to have lost the person's residence who leaves the
person's home and goes into another state or county of this state, for temporary purposes
only, with the intention of returning.
(C) A person shall not be considered to have gained a residence in any county of this state
into which the person comes for temporary purposes only, without the intention of making
such county the permanent place of abode.
(D) The place where the family of a married person resides shall be considered to be the
person's place of residence; except that when the spouses have separated and live apart, the
place where such a spouse resides the length of time required to entitle a person to vote shall
be considered to be the spouse's place of residence.
(E) If a person removes to another state with the intention of making such state the person's
residence, the person shall be considered to have lost the person's residence in this state.
(F) Except as otherwise provided in division (G) of this section, if a person removes from this
state and continuously resides outside this state for a period of four years or more, the person
shall be considered to have lost the person's residence in this state, notwithstanding the fact
that the person may entertain an intention to return at some future period.
(G)(1) If a person removes from this state to engage in the services of the United States
government, the person shall not be considered to have lost the person's residence in this
state, and likewise should the person enter the employment of the state, the place where
such person resided at the time of the person's removal shall be considered to be the
person's place of residence.
(2) If a person removes from this state to a location outside of the United States and the
person does not become a resident of another state, the person shall not be considered to


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have lost the person's residence in this state. The place where the person resided at the time
of the person's removal shall be considered to be the person's place of residence.
(3) If a person is eligible to vote in this state under division (D)(2) of section 3511.011 of the
Revised Code, the place where the person's parent or legal guardian resided in this state
prior to that parent or legal guardian's removal to a location outside of the United States shall
be considered to be the person's place of residence.
(4) If an address that is considered to be a person's place of residence under division (G) of
this section ceases to be a recognized residential address, the board of elections shall assign
an address to the applicable person for voting purposes.
(H) If a person goes into another state and while there exercises the right of a citizen by
voting, the person shall be considered to have lost the person's residence in this state.
(I) If a person does not have a fixed place of habitation, but has a shelter or other location at
which the person has been a consistent or regular inhabitant and to which the person has the
intention of returning, that shelter or other location shall be deemed the person's residence for
the purpose of registering to vote.




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