Welcome

The Board of Elections is responsible for ensuring fair, accurate, and timely elections at primary, general, and special elections.  These responsibilities include the assurance that adequate supplies of ballots and absentee voter materials are available for elections, and that provisions are made for candidates to declare their candidacy based on the time frame established by the Ohio Revised Code.  The office also receives petitions for nominations, checks signatures and addresses for validity, and monitors campaign expenses to ensure compliance with the law. 

The total voter registration for Ottawa County is approximately 29,000, an increase of nearly 5,000 voters since January 1994, when the National Voter Registration Act was passed.

The Board of Elections is now completely computerized, which includes the digitalization of signatures. This allows the board to efficiently print its own precinct rosters and post lists for elections, as well as to supply lists and labels to candidates and the public at a nominal cost.  Residents of Ottawa County can register to vote at any Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Clerk of Courts Title Office, any public library or the Board of Elections Office at 8444 W. St. Rt. 163, Oak Harbor.  In order to keep the most up-to-date voter records and to save voters time and confusion at the polls, it is imperative that voters change their address with the Board of Elections as soon as possible after moving.