Register to vote by July 5 for the August 2 primary election

Update | Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Ohio will host an unprecedented second primary election on August 2, 2022. On the ballot are candidates for the Ohio House and Senate. The winning candidates move on to the November general election.

The registration deadline for voters is July 5. Early in-person and absentee voting will begin July 6. To register to vote, view your ballot, request an absentee ballot, or find your polling location, visit voteohio.gov. 

The 2022 primary election cycle has been confusing to say the least, so Columbus State’s Democratic Engagement Committee wanted to provide some context for how Ohio ended up with a split primary – one in May and one in August.

The split primaries come after months of discussion over redistricting in Ohio. Every 10 years, states redraw their congressional and state legislative district maps based on updated census data. The Ohio Redistricting Committee’s first-proposed maps were challenged in court by voting advocacy groups for violating a state constitutional amendment to curb partisan gerrymandering. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled against the maps. This began a months-long back and forth between the Ohio Supreme Court and the Ohio Redistricting Committee, with the committee submitting three sets of maps that were all struck down by the court. 

Under federal court orders, Ohio continued with the May 3 primary date for statewide and congressional candidates without the Statehouse elections on the ballot. After more legal wrangling, a federal court ordered Ohio to use the third set of proposed maps for state legislative districts, which had been deemed unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court, for an August primary. In brief, this is how Ohio ended up with two primary elections.

Remember to register to vote by July 5 if you haven’t already done so to vote in the August 2 election.

For more information, contact MacKenzie Wilcox, student voter education coordinator, at mwilcox14@cscc.edu.

 

Go to 2022 Update Archive Go to Employee Update