Polk County Democrats

Links: Requesting a Ballot  Window for Request  Filling Out the Ballot  Assisting Voters  Window for Ballot Receipt

Introduction

Traditional voting (in-person, at your specific polling place, on election day) is not required, and in fact is not preferable or even possible for many voters.  For these people, state law allows absentee voting by mail.

The original intent of absentee voting was, as the name implied, to accommodate those voters who would not be present in their home county on election day and so could not vote in any other way. 

That is no longer the case: absentee voting is available to anyone, and would more accurately be called "vote by mail."  Two states (Washington and Oregon) have now dispensed with traditional voting altogether, and all voters must vote "absentee" there whether they want to or not; other states have variations on that, but here in North Carolina it is simply an option, but a popular one.

Should you vote absentee?  That's totally up to you, but the typical absentee voter is one who finds traditional voting difficult: disabled voters, or those with uncertain schedules, or those not wanting to brave the November weather or stand in lines.  Military personnel stationed overseas must all vote absentee, of course.  Also, this is the only way to vote by paper ballot in Polk County; all other methods use the computer machines that have a paper tape back up, but one controlled by the machine. 

The point is that there are no restrictions on absentee voting; if you want to, you can. The State Board of Elections informaton on absentee voting is here.

Here's the process:

Requesting an Absentee Ballot

You must simply provide the Board of Elections, in writing, with enough information for them to qualify you as a properly registered voter.  That's not much:

  * Your name, as it would be on your registration record.

  * Your physical address, that is where you actually live rather than where you have your mail delivered. 

  * Your date of birth, to distinguish you from others with the same name.

Also, you must provide information not related to your eligibility to vote, but which the BOE needs to process your request:

  * The date you made the request, to establish timely request.

  * The address to which you wish the ballot mailed.

  * Your signature (or a qualified alternate, see below)

  * Your printed name

There is no set format for this information, in fact the State Board of Elections forbids any.  We can provide you with a sample ballot request form (and will), but you cannot use it as anything but a guide in making your own request.  Just get to the keyboard or put pen to paper, and don't worry about secretarial elegance.  If it's legible, it works.

When you're done, just put it in an envelope and address it to:

Polk County Board of Elections
PO Box 253
Columbus NC 28722

Then put a stamp on it, drop it in the mail, and wait for your ballot.  If it doesn't arrive promptly (a week or so) then call the BOE (894-8181) and verify that it's in process. 

Window for Requesting an Absentee Ballot

For the 2010 election the window for requesting absentee ballots is September 3 thru October 26.  The earlier date is just when the state BOE believes the printed ballots will be available; requests received earlier won't be refused, they just won't be processed until the ballots are available.  The later date is firm, though: if the BOE receives your request after that date, they will refuse the request, so be mindful of that date.

Filling Out the Ballot

The printed absentee ballot looks exactly like the one on the computer screens at the polling places, and you simply mark your choices as you would normally.  polkdemocrats.com of course recommends checking the Straight Democratic Ticket option, and then going to Vote for the Non-partisan Offices, judges and so forth. Click here for our recommendations on the non-partisan offices.

When you've finished marking the ballot, there are some all-important things you still need to do:

  *Put the ballot in the envelope that came with the ballot, and seal it.

  *Sign the back of the envelope in the space indicated

  *Have one witness sign there as well

  *Put the correct postage on the ballot; when the ballots become available we will check with the Post Office to see what that will be, and will update this page.

Then drop it in the mail, and you're done.

Assisting Older Voters

There are no physical or mental limits to voting, and the law specifically allows for assisting older or disabled voters if necessary.  However, because the risk of coercion for these voters is obvious, that assistance is limited to close family members and forbidden entirely to all others.

The law defines "close family members" as spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepparent, or stepchild.  The "in-law" and "step" extensions increase the number beyond blood relatives, and for most people one or more qualified people should be available.  If not, however, a member of the county Board of Elections can provide the assistance.

The nature of the assistance can be anything from simple advice to filling out and signing the entire ballot, but it must take the form of executing the voter's wishes, not determining them.

Party activists are forbidden any role at all in assisting voters in filling out the ballots.  They may, and do, provide assistence in requesting the ballots, but nothing further.

Window for Receiving the Ballot

The mailed ballot must be received by the BOE by 5:00 pm of the Monday before election day in order to be counted.  In 2010 that's November 1.

State Board of Election

The SBOE information on Absentee Ballots is here.