Ohio Voting Registers

BOARD OF ELECTIONS

The Family History Library has very few Ohio voting registers resources, however one very unique collection has been acquired by the library that should be of interest to those searching immigrant ancestors in the Cleveland area.

The Board of Election in Cuyahoga County Ohio created and maintained a card file of naturalized registered voters. The records are currently in the custody of the Cuyahoga County Archives, Cleveland, Ohio.

The Board of Election Register of Naturalized Voters cards are a defacto index to naturalized voters in Cuyahoga County. While some naturalized voters gained citizenship and voting rights locally, not all naturalized voters were naturalized in Cuyahoga County. What make the record unique is that researches can be pointed to other previous locations of ancestors through the discovery of which city and state their ancestor was naturalized.

Besides providing the name, address and ward of the registered voter, the cards also provide rich naturalization information. Included on the cards are the location and date of the voter's naturalization, their native land, age when naturalized and the recorded volume and page number of the naturalization.

This collection can be found by searching the Family History Library catalog http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=keywordsearch&columns=*,0,0 keyword search using the terms "elections Cuyahoga," or click to view the catalog film notes. The record consists of two alphabetical series captured on 46 16mm reels of microfilm. The first set contains naturalizations occurring ca. 1850-1912 and the second set contains years ca.1915-1970. Three rolls of addendum, A-Z cover years ca.1989-1919.