Ohio Revised Code|Section 3509.08 | Disabled and confined absent voter's ballots.

                                                
(A) Any qualified elector, who, on account of  the elector's own personal illness, physical disability, or  infirmity, or on account of the elector's confinement in a jail or  workhouse under sentence for a misdemeanor or awaiting trial on a  felony or misdemeanor, will be unable to travel from the elector's  home or place of confinement to the voting booth in the elector's  precinct on the day of any general, special, or primary election  may make application in writing for an absent voter's ballot to  the director of the board of elections of the elector's county.  The application shall include all of the information required  under section 3509.03 of the Revised Code and shall state the  nature of the elector's illness, physical disability, or  infirmity, or the fact that the elector is confined in a jail or  workhouse and the elector's resultant inability to travel to the  election booth in the elector's precinct on election day. The  application shall not be valid if it is delivered to the director  before the ninetieth day or after twelve noon of the third day  before the day of the election at which the ballot is to be voted. 
The absent voter's ballot may be mailed directly to the  applicant at the applicant's voting residence or place of  confinement as stated in the applicant's application, or the board  may designate two board employees belonging to the two major  political parties for the purpose of delivering the ballot to the  disabled or confined elector and returning it to the board, unless  the applicant is confined to a public or private institution  within the county, in which case the board shall designate two  board employees belonging to the two major political parties for  the purpose of delivering the ballot to the disabled or confined  elector and returning it to the board. In all other instances, the  ballot shall be returned to the office of the board in the manner  prescribed in section 3509.05 of the Revised Code.
Any disabled or confined elector who declares to the two  board employees belonging to the two major political parties that  the elector is unable to mark the elector's ballot by reason of  physical infirmity that is apparent to the employees to be  sufficient to incapacitate the voter from marking the elector's  ballot properly, may receive, upon request, the assistance of the  employees in marking the elector's ballot, and they shall  thereafter give no information in regard to this matter. Such  assistance shall not be rendered for any other cause.
When two board employees belonging to the two major political  parties deliver a ballot to a disabled or confined elector, each  of the employees shall be present when the ballot is delivered,  when assistance is given, and when the ballot is returned to the  office of the board, and shall subscribe to the declaration on the  identification envelope.
The secretary of state shall prescribe the form of  application for absent voter's ballots under this division.
This chapter applies to disabled and confined absent voter's  ballots except as otherwise provided in this section.
(B)(1) Any qualified elector who is unable to travel to the  voting booth in the elector's precinct on the day of any general,  special, or primary election may apply to the director of the  board of elections of the county where the elector is a qualified  elector to vote in the election by absent voter's ballot if either  of the following apply:
(a) The elector is confined in a hospital as a result of an  accident or unforeseeable medical emergency occurring before the  election;
(b) The elector's minor child is confined in a hospital as a  result of an accident or unforeseeable medical emergency occurring  before the election.
(2) The application authorized under division (B)(1) of this  section shall be made in writing, shall include all of the  information required under section 3509.03 of the Revised Code,  and shall be delivered to the director not later than three p.m.  on the day of the election. The application shall indicate the  hospital where the applicant or the applicant's child is confined,  the date of the applicant's or the applicant's child's admission  to the hospital, and the offices for which the applicant is  qualified to vote. The applicant may also request that a member of  the applicant's family, as listed in section 3509.05 of the  Revised Code, deliver the absent voter's ballot to the applicant.  The director, after establishing to the director's satisfaction  the validity of the circumstances claimed by the applicant, shall  supply an absent voter's ballot to be delivered to the applicant.  When the applicant or the applicant's child is in a hospital in  the county where the applicant is a qualified elector and no  request is made for a member of the family to deliver the ballot,  the director shall arrange for the delivery of an absent voter's  ballot to the applicant, and for its return to the office of the  board, by two board employees belonging to the two major political  parties according to the procedures prescribed in division (A) of  this section. When the applicant or the applicant's child is in a  hospital outside the county where the applicant is a qualified  elector and no request is made for a member of the family to  deliver the ballot, the director shall arrange for the delivery of  an absent voter's ballot to the applicant by mail, and the ballot  shall be returned to the office of the board in the manner  prescribed in section 3509.05 of the Revised Code.
(3) Any qualified elector who is eligible to vote under  division (B) or (C) of section 3503.16 of the Revised Code but is  unable to do so because of the circumstances described in division  (B)(2) of this section may vote in accordance with division (B)(1)  of this section if that qualified elector states in the  application for absent voter's ballots that that qualified elector  moved or had a change of name under the circumstances described in  division (B) or (C) of section 3503.16 of the Revised Code and if  that qualified elector complies with divisions (G)(1) to (4) of  section 3503.16 of the Revised Code.
(C) Any qualified elector described in division (A) or (B)(1)  of this section who needs no assistance to vote or to return  absent voter's ballots to the board of elections may apply for  absent voter's ballots under section 3509.03 of the Revised Code  instead of applying for them under this section.