Trevor Martin is telling Ohio college students they can register to vote using a campus address if it is their permanent residence, and they need to do it by Oct. 5. The program coordinator with the League of Women Voters of Ohio said he keeps hearing the same questions from campuses across Ohio ahead of November’s election.
"A big question this year is about mail-in voting and absentees, more than past years," Martin said. "There’s a lot of confusion."
Ohio Secretary of State’s office guidance
The Ohio Secretary of State’s office says a campus address can be used for voter registration when it meets the state’s definition of a permanent residence. State law defines that as a permanent, fixed home, or the place a resident plans to return to after being away.
That rule matters because the address on a registration determines the races and issues a voter will ultimately receive. The address must also be tied to a physical place, not a P.O. box or a mailbox somewhere on campus.
Campus address and Ohio registration
Once a student’s campus address is accepted, it becomes that student’s official voting residence and replaces any earlier location. That means a student who moves their registration to campus is treated as an Ohio voter at that address, with the ballot tied to that place.
Students who later register in a different state lose the right to vote in Ohio. Election officials recommend canceling the Ohio registration by contacting the local elections board in the county where the voter originally registered.
Mail-in voting before November
The registration deadline comes before students can move on to mail-in voting or other methods. Martin’s conversations with students show that absentee ballot request forms sent by state election officials during presidential and midterm election years are legitimate, even as confusion around those forms continues.
For students on Ohio campuses, the practical step is simple: register by Oct. 5, use a campus address only if it is your permanent residence, and keep your registration tied to the place you intend to vote from. If your voting residence changes to another state, Ohio registration ends with it.
