October 14, 2016
By Paul Joseph, News Director
Oklahoma voters who want to have absentee ballots mailed to them for the upcoming General Election shouldn’t put it off.
Washita County Election Board Secretary Leah Jones says although county election board officials in Western Oklahoma can accept applications for absentee ballots until 5 pm on Wednesday, November 2, Jones urges voters who want to vote by absentee ballot to apply early.
Absentee ballot application forms are available at any Oklahoma county election board office and an online version of the form can be filled out and submitted electronically at www.elections.ok.gov. Jones says a print form can also be downloaded at that address.
Roger Mills County Election Board Secretary Jana Maddox urges absentee voters not to procrastinate applying for their ballots. At least two mail transactions must be made and Maddox says county election board offices must mail the ballots to the voter and the voter must return the voted ballots by mail and that they must be in the hands of county election board officials by 7 pm on Election Day to be counted.
Custer County’s Election Board Secretary Ann Brown says any voter may vote absentee ballot in any election in which the voter is eligible to vote. However, the voter must be registered and reside at an address within the geographical boundaries of a school district or a municipality to be eligible to vote in school district or municipal elections. She says it’s not necessary to give a reason for voting absentee.
Roger Mill’s Maddox says while anyone can vote absentee without giving a reason, the law still provides several advantages to absentee voters in some categories.
- Voters who are physically incapacitated and voters who care for physically incapacitated person who can’t be left unattended
- Voters who are confined to nursing homes in the county may vote absentee
– Military personnel and residents of the county living overseas and the spouses and dependents of each group are eligible to receive absentee ballots.
There is some good news/bad news for people who are unregistered and want to vote.
Today was the deadline for registering to vote. So, for those that wanted to vote in the upcoming General Election on Tuesday, November 8, you’re out of luck. That’s the bad news.
The good news is voter registration applications can still be filled out, turned in and they’ll be accepted, however, an applicant’s registration form won’t be processed until after the November 8 election and, thus, too late to vote in the General Election.
– 30 –