Steps to Voting

Whether you are voting in Ohio or another state, here’s the information you need.

How to Register

Check Your Registration

  • Verify that your registration has been received. Usually, you can do this from your state’s Secretary of State’s website. Ohio voters can check registrations here. Do this before your state’s registration deadline (in Ohio, check by Oct. 10, 2023).

Know your options and deadlines.

Check out Ohio’s voting schedule. Ohio voters have three options.

Ohio Option 1: Early Voting in Person

  • To vote in person, you must provide a driver's license or state ID car, issued by the state of Ohio, or an unexpired U.S. passport. If you do not have one of these, you should vote via option 2, an absentee ballot.
  • Early voting begins Oct. 11, 2023, and ends at 2 p.m. on Nov. 3, 2023. Check the schedule for days and hours.
  • Where: Knox County Board of Elections in Mount Vernon (104 E. Sugar St.).
  • Transportation: The KAT Shuttle stops a short distance from the Board of Elections at 104 East Sugar Street in Mount Vernon.

Ohio Option 2: Early Voting By Mail (Absentee Voting)

  • Going forward, the most viable way for students without an ID issued by the state of Ohio is to vote via absentee ballot.
  • Ohio does not automatically send you a mail ballot; you must request a ballot.
  •  Mail your absentee ballot request form to your local board of elections. For Gambier voters that is the Knox County Board of Elections, 104 East Sugar St., Mount Vernon, OH 43050. Submit your request at least a week before the election.
  • Your completed ballot must be postmarked by Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, or hand delivered to the county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.
  • Mail or deliver your ballot to Knox County Board of Elections, 104 East Sugar St., Mount Vernon, OH 43050. 
  • If you request an absentee ballot but do not return it to the Board of Elections, you may go to the polls on election day, where they will offer you a provisional ballot.

Ohio Option 3: In-Person on Election Day

  • To vote in person, you must provide a driver's license or state ID car, issued by the state of Ohio, or an unexpired U.S. passport. If you do not have one of these, you should vote via option 2, an absentee ballot
  • Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. 
  • Where: Gambier Community Center, 115 Meadow Lane.

Get Informed

  • Can I vote in Gambier? Yes. College students in the U.S. can lawfully register to vote in the place where they live while studying. It is, of course, illegal to vote in two places. Learn more from the Ohio Secretary of State.
  • Can I be registered in two places at once?  No. If you move within Ohio, then changing your voting address to Gambier will cancel your voting registration at your parent's house in another part of this state. If you had registered previously in another state, then the old registration will not cancel automatically when you register in Ohio.  Cancelling an old registration is simple. Find your state's cancellation process.
  • Don’t miss out on programs from Kenyon’s Center for the Study of American Democracy.
  • FAQs

Get Involved

  • Become a poll worker — It’s a paid position, and you must be registered to vote in Knox County.