I’m writing this week’s column piecemeal — between scheduled interviews with local political candidates seeking their party’s nominations in the quickly approaching May 2 primary election.

Yes, it’s that time again.

Overall, this year’s local primary election is pretty limited with only a few contested races on local ballots. Still, that’s not to diminish the importance of these grassroots races in communities where there are more than one candidate seeking to advance to the November general election.

Based on that, it seems this might be a good opportunity to roll out Ohio’s new voter laws.

If you’re casting a ballot early or on May 2, don’t forget your driver’s license.

Among other things, perhaps the most significant change is the strict new photo ID requirement.

There are a few acceptable forms of photo identification, but the bottom line is you must show one of them to be permitted to vote.

Acceptable forms of photo ID include a state of Ohio driver’s license or state ID card, listing either your current or previous address — as long as it’s not expired. (Out-of-state driver’s licenses will NOT be accepted.)

Also accepted will be a military ID card. That includes a U.S. military ID card, Ohio National Guard ID card or a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ID card. (Veteran ID cards issued by county recorders will not be accepted, and military ID no longer will be accepted when registering to vote.)

Beginning this election, a U.S. passport or passport card will be accepted.

If you don’t drive or you don’t have an Ohio driver’s license, you may get a state-issued photo ID for free at the local Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

If you have religious reasons why you object to having your photo taken, an exemption is provided under law, but you’ll need to sign an affidavit and provide your birth date and last four digits of your Social Security number on a special form.

If you’re voting early by mail, the number from your Ohio driver’s license or state ID card, or the last four of your Social Security number, must be provided as proof of your identity.

Other than religious objections, alternative forms of identification, like utility bills and bank statements, will not be accepted as a valid form of ID.

And after Ohio voters last year voted to ban noncitizens from voting, even at the local level, new Ohio driver’s licenses and ID cards will indicate citizenship status.

The new voting law also redistributes hours of early voting, but for the most part, the amount of early voting time is unchanged. It also now requires applications for mail-in ballots be filed at least seven days before Election Day. Previously it was three.

And, to be counted, those mailed ballots must arrive back at your local election board no later than four days after the election — not the previously allowed 10 days. I urge you to take slow mail delivery into consideration. Of course, this provision could have particular impact on overseas and military voters, who should mail very early.

Also, now voters have only four days after Election Day to provide missing information to “cure” a provisionally cast ballot, while previously you had seven.

Ballot drop boxes are limited to one per county, outside the board of elections office, and curbside voting is no longer allowed.

Government offices are prohibited under the law from pre-paying postage on either absentee ballot application forms or ballot return envelopes.

The new laws are being met with some opposition and controversy, but at the end of the day, most of it does not appear to be unreasonable. It simply requires some advance planning.

Plan ahead if you need to go to the BMV to get a photo ID.

And if you haven’t voted for a while, I urge you to verify that your voter registration is still on file. A February purge of Ohio’s voting rolls scrubbed tens of thousands of names due to voting inactivity, death, incarceration, etc. It’s too late to register or update your registration for the May 2 election, but you can get ahead of the game for the November general election.