Election
ORC 3501.01

• "General election" means the election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in each November.
• "Regular municipal election" means the election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each odd-numbered year.
• "Regular state election" means the election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each even-numbered year.
• "Special election" means any election other than those elections defined in other divisions of this section. A special election may be held only on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in February, May, August, or November, or on the day authorized by a particular municipal or county charter for the holding of a primary election, except that in any year in which a presidential primary election is held, no special election shall be held in February or May, except as authorized by a municipal or county charter, but may be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March.
• (1) "Primary" or "primary election" means an election held for the purpose of nominating persons as candidates of political parties for election to offices, and for the purpose of electing persons as members of the controlling committees of political parties and as delegates and alternates to the conventions of political parties. Primary elections shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May of each year except in years in which a presidential primary election is held.
  (2) "Presidential primary election" means a primary election as defined by division (E)(1) of this section at which an election is held for the purpose of choosing delegates and alternates to the national conventions of the major political parties pursuant to section 3513.12 of the Revised Code. Unless otherwise specified, presidential primary elections are included in references to primary elections. In years in which a presidential primary election is held, all primary elections shall be held on the second Tuesday after the first Monday in March except as otherwise authorized by a municipal or county charter.
• "Political party" means any group of voters meeting the requirements set forth in section 3517.01 of the Revised Code for the formation and existence of a political party.
  1. "Major political party" means any political party organized under the laws of this state whose candidate for governor or nominees for presidential electors received no less than twenty per cent of the total vote cast for such office at the most recent regular state election.
  2. "Intermediate political party" means any political party organized under the laws of this state whose candidate for governor or nominees for presidential electors received less than twenty per cent but not less than ten per cent of the total vote cast for such office at the most recent regular state election.
  3. "Minor political party" means any political party organized under the laws of this state whose candidate for governor or nominees for presidential electors received less than ten per cent but not less than five per cent of the total vote cast for such office at the most recent regular state election or which has filed with the secretary of state, subsequent to any election in which it received less than five per cent of such vote, a petition signed by qualified electors equal in number to at least one per cent of the total vote cast for such office in the last preceding regular state election, except that a newly formed political party shall be known as a minor political party until the time of the first election for governor or president which occurs not less than twelve months subsequent to the formation of such party, after which election the status of such party shall be determined by the vote for the office of governor or president.
• "Dominant party in a precinct" or "dominant political party in a precinct" means that political party whose candidate for election to the office of governor at the most recent regular state election at which a governor was elected received more votes than any other person received for election to that office in such precinct at such election.
• "Candidate" means any qualified person certified in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Code for placement on the official ballot of a primary, general, or special election to be held in this state, or any qualified person who claims to be a write-in candidate, or who knowingly assents to being represented as a write-in candidate by another at either a primary, general, or special election to be held in this state.
• "Independent candidate" means any candidate who claims not to be affiliated with a political party, and whose name has been certified on the office-type ballot at a general or special election through the filing of a statement of candidacy and nominating petition, as prescribed in section 3513.257 of the Revised Code.
• "Nonpartisan candidate" means any candidate whose name is required, pursuant to section 3505.04 of the Revised Code, to be listed on the nonpartisan ballot, including all candidates for judicial office, for member of any board of education, for municipal or township offices in which primary elections are not held for nominating candidates by political parties, and for offices of municipal corporations having charters that provide for separate ballots for elections for these offices.
• "Party candidate" means any candidate who claims to be a member of a political party, whose name has been certified on the office-type ballot at a general or special election through the filing of a declaration of candidacy and petition of candidate, and who has won the primary election of the candidate's party for the public office the candidate seeks or is selected by party committee in accordance with section 3513.31 of the Revised Code.
• "Officer of a political party" includes, but is not limited to, any member, elected or appointed, of a controlling committee, whether representing the territory of the state, a district therein, a county, township, a city, a ward, a precinct, or other territory, of a major, intermediate, or minor political party.
• "Question or issue" means any question or issue certified in accordance with the Revised Code for placement on an official ballot at a general or special election to be held in this state.
• "Elector" or "qualified elector" means a person having the qualifications provided by law to be entitled to vote.
• "Voter" means an elector who votes at an election.
• "Voting residence" means that place of residence of an elector which shall determine the precinct in which the elector may vote.
• "Precinct" means a district within a county established by the board of elections of such county within which all qualified electors having a voting residence therein may vote at the same polling place.
• "Polling place" means that place provided for each precinct at which the electors having a voting residence in such precinct may vote.
• "Board" or "board of elections" means the board of elections appointed in a county pursuant to section 3501.06 of the Revised Code.
• "Political subdivision" means a county, township, city, village, or school district.
• "Election officer" or "election official" means any of the following:
  1. Secretary of state;
  2. Employees of the secretary of state serving the division of elections in the capacity of attorney, administrative officer, administrative assistant, elections administrator, office manager, or clerical supervisor;
  3. Director of a board of elections;
  4. Deputy director of a board of elections;
  5. Member of a board of elections;
  6. Employees of a board of elections;
  7. Precinct polling place judges;
  8. Employees appointed by the boards of elections on a temporary or part-time basis.
• "Acknowledgment notice" means a notice sent by a board of elections, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, informing a voter registration applicant or an applicant who wishes to change the applicant's residence or name of the status of the application; the information necessary to complete or update the application, if any; and if the application is complete, the precinct in which the applicant is to vote.
• "Confirmation notice" means a notice sent by a board of elections, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, to a registered elector to confirm the registered elector's current address.
• "Designated agency" means an office or agency in the state that provides public assistance or that provides state-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities and that is required by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to implement a program designed and administered by the secretary of state for registering voters, or any other public or government office or agency that implements a program designed and administered by the secretary of state for registering voters, including the department of job and family services, the program administered under section 3701.132 of the Revised Code by the department of health, the department of mental health, the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, the rehabilitation services commission, and any other agency the secretary of state designates. "Designated agency" does not include public high schools and vocational schools, public libraries, or the office of a county treasurer.