Election 2024 is closer than you think. It’s time to make your Akron voting plan.

It’s mid-July. Halloween costumes will start showing up in Target and Walmart stores any day now. The Christmas decorations will follow soon after. Within a decade, the NBA will play from October through August. Seasons mean nothing anymore.

So please forgive us for interrupting your summer with suggestions for the November election. We don’t make the rules.

Voting in Ohio can be a journey. And the sooner you start, the more likely your vote will be counted in the 2024 election.

First, see if you’re on the purge list

Officially it’s called the “Registration Readiness Roster,” but it means the same thing. It’s the list of almost 159,000 Ohioans — including more than 6,000 in Summit County and 3,800 with Akron mailing addresses — to be removed from voter rolls by July 22, either because they’ve moved or haven’t voted in at least four years.

You can check online to see if your name appears on the list.

If you’re on the list (or have moved since the last time you voted)

The easiest thing to do is update your registration or re-register. You can do that online with the number from your Ohio driver’s license or Ohio identification card and the last four digits of your Social Security number. (Ohio ID cards are available for free from the BMV.)

You can also register for the first time at the same link.

If you want to keep it old school, you can call the Summit County Board of Elections at 330-643-5200 and ask to have a registration form mailed to you. Or you can register in person at the BOE, 470 Grant St., Akron, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

🗳️For more on this year’s November election, visit our Election Signals 2024 page.

If you’re already registered

You can print and complete an application to vote by mail (PDF), if that’s how you plan to participate this year. Or you can call the Board of Elections at 330-643-5200 and request an Absentee Ballot Application be mailed to you.

You can also share this information with relatives, friends and neighbors to make sure they’re prepared for the voting journey. 

A good resource for general voter information is the Vote411 website — Signal Akron is partnering with the Akron-area League of Women Voters to bring you voting information as we approach the November election.