§ 3505.08Ballot material - stubs

(A) Ballots shall be provided by the board of elections for all general and special elections. The
ballots shall be printed with black ink on No. 2 white book paper fifty pounds in weight per ream
assuming such ream to consist of five hundred sheets of such paper twenty-five by thirty-eight
inches in size. Each ballot shall have attached at the top two stubs, each of the width of the ballot
and not less than one-half inch in length, except that, if the board of elections has an alternate
method to account for the ballots that the secretary of state has authorized, each ballot may have
only one stub that shall be the width of the ballot and not less than one-half inch in length. In the
case of ballots with two stubs, the stubs shall be separated from the ballot and from each other by
perforated lines. The top stub shall be known as Stub B and shall have printed on its face "Stub B."
The other stub shall be known as Stub A and shall have printed on its face "Stub A." Each stub shall
also have printed on its face "Consecutive Number __________"


Each ballot of each kind of ballot provided for use in each precinct shall be numbered consecutively
beginning with number 1 by printing such number upon both of the stubs attached to the ballot. On
ballots bearing the names of candidates, each candidate's name shall be printed in twelve point
boldface upper case type in an enclosed rectangular space, and an enclosed blank rectangular space
shall be provided at the left of the candidate's name. The name of the political party of a candidate
nominated at a primary election, nominated by petition under section 3517.012 of the Revised
Code, or certified by a party committee shall be printed in ten point lightface upper and lower case
type and shall be separated by a two point blank space. The name of each candidate shall be
indented one space within the enclosed rectangular space, and the name of the political party shall
be indented two spaces within the enclosed rectangular space.


The title of each office on the ballots shall be printed in twelve point boldface upper and lower case
type in a separate enclosed rectangular space. A four point rule shall separate the name of a
candidate or a group of candidates for the same office from the title of the office next appearing
below on the ballot; a two point rule shall separate the title of the office from the names of
candidates; and a one point rule shall separate names of candidates. Headings shall be printed in



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display Roman type. When the names of several candidates are grouped together as candidates for
the same office, there shall be printed on the ballots immediately below the title of the office and
within the separate rectangular space in which the title is printed "Vote for not more than
________," in six point boldface upper and lower case filling the blank space with that number
which will indicate the number of persons who may be lawfully elected to the office.


Columns on ballots shall be separated from each other by a heavy vertical border or solid line at
least one-eighth of an inch wide, and a similar vertical border or line shall enclose the left and right
side of ballots. Ballots shall be trimmed along the sides close to such lines.


The ballots provided for by this section shall be comprised of four kinds of ballots designated as
follows: office type ballot; nonpartisan ballot; questions and issues ballot; and presidential ballot.


On the back of each office type ballot shall be printed "Official Office Type Ballot;" on the back of
each nonpartisan ballot shall be printed "Official Nonpartisan Ballot;" on the back of each questions
and issues ballot shall be printed "Official Questions and Issues Ballot;" and on the back of each
presidential ballot shall be printed "Official Presidential Ballot." At the end of every ballot also
shall be printed the date of the election at which the ballot is used and the facsimile signatures of the
members of the board of the county in which the ballot is used. For the purpose of identifying the
kind of ballot, the back of every ballot may be numbered in the order the board shall determine. The
numbers shall be printed in not less than thirty-six point type above the words "Official Office Type
Ballot," "Official Nonpartisan Ballot," "Official Questions and Issues Ballot," or "Official
Presidential Ballot," as the case may be. A ballot box bearing corresponding numbers shall be
furnished for each precinct in which the above-described numbered ballots are used.


On the back of every ballot used, there shall be a solid black line printed opposite the blank
rectangular space that is used to mark the choice of the voter. This line shall be printed wide enough
so that the mark in the blank rectangular space will not be visible from the back side of the ballot.


Sample ballots may be printed by the board of elections for all general elections. The ballots shall be
printed on colored paper, and "Sample Ballot" shall be plainly printed in boldface type on the face
of each ballot. In counties of less than one hundred thousand population, the board may print not
more than five hundred sample ballots; in all other counties, it may print not more than one



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thousand sample ballots. The sample ballots shall not be distributed by a political party or a
candidate, nor shall a political party or candidate cause their title or name to be imprinted on sample
ballots.


(B) Notwithstanding division (A) of this section, in approving the form of an official ballot, the
secretary of state may authorize the use of fonts, type face settings, and ballot formats other than
those prescribed in that division.


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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