Voting information for Aug. 2 primary

Most voters are more than a little confused about the upcoming Aug. 2, 2022 Primary Election. Simply said, for those voters living in Westlake and Bay Village, this election is the time to vote for candidates for District 16 Ohio House of Representatives and for members of the State Central Committees for the Democratic and Republican parties. The May 2022 primary determined the winning candidates for many other offices and who have been advanced to appear on the November 2022 general election ballot. 

The Bay Village and Westlake/North Olmsted Chapters of the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland will host an in-person candidate forum on Tuesday, July 12, to introduce the contenders for the Ohio House of Representatives seat. The forum will take place at 7 p.m. at the North Olmsted branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library, 27403 Lorain Road. The forum will also be livestreamed via Zoom at bit.ly/lwv-forum-july. For those who are unable to attend live, a recording of the forum will be available at youtube.com/c/LeagueofWomenVotersofGreaterCleveland.

This election is occurring in August this year due to the complicated process for redrawing political districts after the 2020 U.S. Census. The process for this, for both state and federal offices, is described in the Ohio Constitution as a result of voter approvals in 2015 and 2018.

The state officials charged with drawing districts in 2022 prepared maps that were legally challenged, multiple times. The Ohio Supreme Court struck down several maps, but when pressed with critical deadlines for conducting elections, a federal court allowed the flawed Ohio House and Senate maps to be used for the next two years, i.e., the 2022 election only.

The deadline for registering to vote in the August election ended July 5. However, registered voters still have most of July to request a mail-in ballot and to vote and return that ballot to the Board of Elections. 

The vote-by-mail deadlines are:

July 30, noon – Deadline for requesting vote-by-mail ballots from Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. (The request form is available online, but must be mailed or hand-delivered to the Board office to be included in the voter list.)

Aug. 1 – Vote-by-mail ballots mailed back to the Board of Elections must be postmarked on or before Aug. 1.

Aug. 2 – Vote-by-mail ballots returned directly to the Board of Elections must be dropped off by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Aug. 2, in the designated drop box.

Another reminder to all vote-by-mail voters is that U.S. postage will increase July 10, so your ballot envelope will need 60 cents postage after that date.

Finally, it is important that voters properly complete their vote-by-mail application. Many vote-by-mail applications received by the Cuyahoga Board of Elections in late June were rejected for the following reasons: 

  • Voter requested an “issues only” ballot, but there are no issues included in the Aug. 2 election
  • Voter did not request a specific ballot. In a primary, a voter must request either a Republican or Democratic ballot.

To learn more about the candidates running in the Aug. 2 primary, please go to vote411.org to access the League of Women Voters' nonpartisan voter guide.

Janice Patterson

Member, Westlake/North Olmsted Chapter, League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland

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Volume 14, Issue 13, Posted 9:44 AM, 07.06.2022