The way Bluffton votes may be different in November than in previous general elections.

Ohio Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, said today that Ohio needs to take the application process for mail-in ballots online, agree to pay postage on return applications and ballots and make other voting-law changes in order to assure a smooth presidential election in November.

LaRose’s proposed changes would:

• Allow online requests for a vote-by-mail ballot, rather than requiring a form to be printed off from the internet or requested by phone;

•  Allow ballot requests, as well as ballots, to include postage-paid envelopes, which could prevent the need to visit a Post Office amid virus-related restrictions on movement;

• Move the deadline for requesting an absentee ballot from noon on the Saturday before the vote to a week before the vote;

• Release more of the available federal funds to Ohio’s 88 bipartisan county boards of elections to buy equipment or hire personnel needed to handle the heavier vote-by-mail load.

“It doesn’t require huge changes to the way Ohio runs elections,” LaRose said. “Because we have a fundamentally sound and strong way of running elections in Ohio.”

But LaRose said his conversations with legislative leaders so far have been “very positive.”

“I think what we want is the same thing,” he said. “At least, I go into this assuming that we all have the same good intentions of making sure that we can offer convenience for voters but also a secure election and a healthy election experience this November. I think this is something that Ohioans rightfully expect from their government leaders.”