Nathan Lomnicky still has his absentee ballot in a purple homework folder in his backpack, which is why he is asking where can i drop off my ballot. Ohio now requires mail-in ballots to be received by a county board of elections by the close of polls on Election Day.
That change came after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed Ohio Senate Bill 293 into law in December 2025. The law ended the four-day grace period that once let mail-in ballots arrive after Election Day, and it first took effect for the May 5 primary.
Ohio Senate Bill 293
Under S.B. 293, voters can still mail an absentee ballot, but the board of elections must receive it by the close of polls on Election Day. A ballot that reaches the office after that deadline no longer gets the extra four days that Ohio previously allowed.
In the 2024 election, about 7,800 mail-in ballots arrived during that grace period. The new rule changes the timeline for anyone relying on the mail, and it gives voters less room to wait until the last minute before sending an envelope back.
Nathan Lomnicky
Lomnicky, a Miami University junior from Illinois, said his ballot had been filled out and stuffed in an envelope, but he had not made it to the post office yet. He said, “There’s only seven days for my ballot to get to where it needs to be.”
He also said, “College students are busy people. Being in the right place at the right time in my day has been quite a journey.” Lomnicky cannot vote in person because he does not have an Ohio-specific state ID, and he said mail-in voting is the path available to him in Ohio.
Miami University voters
Alexis Gomes, assistant director for civic engagement of the Wilks Institute for Leadership and Service, said students should think about the mailing timeline early and return ballots as soon as they get them. She said students will want to be intentional about the timelines it takes for them to mail their ballot back.
The Wilks Institute for Leadership and Service has been tabling around campus during the beginning of the fall semester to help students check voter registration, complete applications, and find voting resources. That work is aimed at the people who now face the tightest deadline: absentee voters who cannot afford to let a ballot sit in a backpack, drawer, or dorm room while Election Day gets closer.
Lomnicky said, “If I’m voting in Illinois, I’d have to mail it anyway.” He also said, “I mailed it for the 2024 election, but this election, I’ve been wanting to vote in Ohio since last year, just because I think the seats are more contested, issues are hotter [and] they matter more.”
For voters deciding what to do now, the practical answer is simple: mail the ballot early enough to reach the board of elections by Election Day, or use another return method available to them before the deadline passes. For students and other absentee voters, the margin for delay is gone.
