Registering to vote may not be as self-evident as one might think. Enter your address and other identifying information, and off you go.
Turns out that’s often not the case with people who live in apartment complexes. The Portage County Board of Elections may reject their best efforts, mostly because acceptable address formats are unique to apartment complexes.
For instance, people who live in 345 Flats must enter 245 S. Depeyster St. on Line 1, the apartment number and bedroom on Line 2, then Kent OH 44240. People who live in Eagles Landing must enter the building number and Morris Road on Line 1, the apartment number on Line 2, then Kent OH 44240. People who live in University Edge must enter 5694 Rhodes Rd. on Line 1, the apartment number on Line 2, then Kent Ohio 44240.
Craig Berger, associate director of civic and community engagement for Kent State University, has taken steps to make the process simpler. Partnering with the Portage County Board of Elections, he created a list of properly formatted addresses for eight Kent apartment complexes that mainly house students. He created a website to disseminate that information and printed 2,500 postcards that management at the apartment complexes agreed to distribute to their tenants.
People who live in 345 Flats, Campus Pointe, College Towers, Eagles Landing, Paloma, University Oaks, University Edge or Province may access https://www.kent.edu/vote/apartment-registration-addresses to learn how to fill out voter registration forms correctly. They should also have received postcards printed with the same information.
Asking largely itinerant college students to vote may sound like an uphill battle. Berger believes that students should at least have the option to be civically involved. He also knows that current voting practices predict future involvement.
“We know from research that if students vote in three consecutive elections when they're first eligible to vote, they're actually more likely to vote over the course of their lifetime. So with most of the students that we see at Kent State being at that age, I think that's a priority,” he said.
Students who opt to retain their hometown addresses on their driver’s licenses must personally vote from that address or request an absentee ballot. Students who change their legal address to Kent or the surrounding areas must update both their driver’s license and their voter registration.
The deadline for voter registration for the November general election is Oct. 5. Registration may be completed online, at the Board of Elections office (449 S. Meridian St., Ravenna), at local libraries, at BMV offices, at high schools (for currently enrolled students) and at many other locations. Be prepared to provide your Ohio driver’s license number, current address and last four digits of your Social Security number.
To confirm your voter registration status, log onto https://www.portagecounty-oh.gov/board-elections, scroll down to “voter information,” click on “voter registration lookup” and follow the prompts.
Anyone who is not sure how to complete their voter registration form may contact the Portage County Board of Elections at 330-297-3511 to make sure they are completing the form correctly.