Editorial by Johnette Jernigan, Cleveland Urban News.Com Reporter

As battle grounds are drawn here in the state of Ohio and voter turnout is anticipated to be high in a neck and neck race between President Barack Obama and republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, it is important to not only register new voters, but to also give disenfranchised voters accurate information on the right to vote.

Former offenders could be taking themselves out of the political process inadvertently due to misinformation. Knowledge is no doubt power, particularly when it pertains to voting in a close election.

Ohio is one of 13 states along with the District of Columbia that allows convicted felons to vote under state law, but if a  jail or prison term is part of the sentence, that right to vote in Ohio comes only after the completion of it.

The right to vote is a Civil Right and the denial of it because of a felony is  called felony voter disenfranchisement. Only Kentucky and West Virginia take it to the maximum and  have state laws that impose a life long disbarment of that right for a felony record, with even Kentucky now providing for a restoration process.

Once a a person convicted of a felony is released from physical incarceration, even if on post-release control, parole, on house-arrest or to a half-way house,  the eligibility to vote in Ohio kicks in, though felons must again register to vote in order to do so.

Any Ohioan being held in jail in a pretrial situation who wishes to exercise his or her right to vote can do so by absentee ballot, unless that person is incarcerated because of an unrelated felony conviction and will not be released before the upcoming election.

Two separate convictions of felony violations of Ohio’s election laws bars the offender from voting in Ohio in any manner under state law, the only exception to the right of felons to vote, except, as mentioned previously, while the felony offender is incarcerated.

Ohio voters must be 18-years of age,  a U.S. citizen, and a resident of the Ohio at least 30 days before the election at issue. And absent a stipulation by a probate court of incompetency to vote in a judicial order, mentally incompetent people that otherwise qualify retain the right to vote, at least in Ohio.

A pivotal state that determines presidents, Ohio has a stake in this year's presidential election. It is therefore important, and without reservation, that Ohioans have their voices heard through the power of the right to vote.

Reach Johnette Jernigan at jernj@aol.com.

Reach Cleveland Urban News. Com by email at editor@clevelandurbannews.com and by telephone at 216-932-3114.