All registered voters in Montgomery County and across the state will receive absentee ballot applications in their mailboxes next week.  Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted today announced that more than six million applications to vote absentee in the upcoming Presidential Election are being mailed to Ohio voters.

By the Numbers from the Ohio Secretary of State:

• Two – Number of statewide mailings. First mailing will go out on August 31, 2012, arriving in mailboxes shortly after Labor Day; Second supplemental mailing will go out early October.
• 88 – Number of Ohio counties where all registered voters will receive an absentee ballot application -- marking the first time ever all Ohioans will have same level of access to ballot.
• More Than Six Million – Number of voters included in initial mailing. The supplemental mailing will go out early October and include voters who registered or updated their information after August 6, 2012.
• Three – Number of fields voters must complete on personalized absentee ballot applications. Voters must provide valid identification, their date of birth and signature.
• 35 – Number of days before Election Day that early voting begins in Ohio and absentee ballots will be sent out – October 2, 2012.
• One –National elections experts have noted that Ohio is the only state in the nation to send out absentee ballot applications to all registered voters outside of those states, which vote exclusively by mail (currently Washington and Oregon).

Voters must complete and mail in their application by noon on Saturday, November 3, 2012. If they change their mind and go to the polls after having requested an absentee ballot, they will have to vote provisionally.

The Montgomery County Board of Elections is encouraging voters to use absentee ballots to avoid long lines on Election Day.