Polls open for earlier voting - A new [Georgia] law allows ballots to be cast starting Monday; officials brace for onslaught - "Election officials say they expect 80 percent of voters to vote in November and are asking people to vote early to cut down on election day lines…'There's no reason required. They will need a photo ID.' [Cindy Robinson, director of the Glynn County Board of Elections]… For the location of early voting places, call the county elections board or registrar's office." 9/19/08
Vote early, nervous election officials urge Georgians - "If they don't, and 'all these people show up on election day, they'll be in line from Nov. 4 to Dec. 25.'" Linda Latimore, DeKalb County head of elections, 9/16/08
McCain's mailer creates controversy - "But in some cases, the incorrect clerk's address is printed on the application, leading some Democrats to wonder if the Arizona senator's campaign is deliberately trying to get them to apply for absentee ballots in places where they aren't eligible to vote. Mark Jefferson, executive director of the state GOP, said the mailing is not intended to keep people from the polls and that the wrong absentee ballot applications resulted from incorrect information in databases used for the mailing." 9/12/08
Ballot snafu endangers votes - "About one-third of the absentee ballot applications received at the Hamilton County [OH] Board of Elections have been ruled invalid because Republican Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign printed a version of the form with an extra, unneeded box on it." 9/11/08
Warning: McCain campaign sends out bad absentee ballot applications to Obama donors - "Progressive talk show host Lee Rayburn has gotten dozens of contacts from voters in Wisconsin, mostly recently moved, who are complaining that they have received unsolicited absentee ballot applications sent to their new addresses (not forwarded) from the McCain campaign, and that those applications have as the return address the county clerk of their FORMER address. While he was talking about this on the air today, other voters from Florida and North Carolina, as well as more from Wisconsin called to report that they had received the same. A number said that the were not registered Democrats, but had donated to Obama, so it appears that the public donor lists were the McCain campaign's source of the names. This had to have been cross-checked with change-of-address info at the BOEs." 9/11/08
U.S. Postal Service Says Mail Ballots Early - "With more than 31 million ballots expected to be mailed this fall, the U.S. Postal Service is encouraging voters to 'mail early' this election season." 9/10/08
To Avoid Long Lines, Ohio Officials Say Vote By Mail - "In the key battleground state of Ohio in 2004, some voters waited up to 10 hours to cast their ballots. This year, officials are trying to alleviate some of the Election Day load by encouraging some residents to vote early by mail. Mostly, voting officials want to eliminate the scene that occurred four years ago, when lines of voters snaked out of many polling." 9/9/08
375,000 absentee ballots mailed - Elections officials hope that early voting will help cut down on Election Day hassles. - "It should increase the participation. Voters can fill out the ballot at their own convenience. Also with the potentially long lines with the record turnout, it should help alleviate the lines." Steve Harsman, director, Montgomery County [OH] Board of Elections, 9/6/08
Travis County [TX] opening two 'mega sites' for early voting--Location will help cope with expected record turnout, officials say - "The county is also encouraging people who vote on Election Day to do so earlier in the day. Historically, about half cast their ballots after 4 p.m. - making long lines a possibility." 9/4/08
Advance voting key to short waits at the polls - "Sedgwick County [KS] Democratic Chairman Kelly Johnston said [county election commissioner] Gale will not avoid a debacle at polling sites' unless advance balloting reaches 40 to 50 percent, or unless he adds polling sites. The county has far fewer polling places -- 63 now compared with 209 in 2004 -- and far fewer voting machines -- 462 now compared with 820 in 2004." 9/3/08
Look for big voter turnout in November - "'Voting early alleviates lines at the polls, especially if you are a provisional voter.'" Kathy Meyer, Director, Fulton County (OH) Board of Elections, 8/24/08
Division of Elections Clarifies Absentee Voting Instructions Error - "The Alaska Division of Elections mailed over 23,000 ballots to voters for the Primary Election. Each time ballots are mailed, the Division includes instructions that inform voters how to return the ballot. There are two different sets of instructions... one being instructions for voters who need to submit a photocopy of their identification." 8/24/08
Should the votes of dead people be counted at elections? - "If you vote by mail, but die before Election Day, does your vote count? It depends on where you lived." 8/23/08
Make Voting Easy, Secure - "We encourage East Ohio elections boards to offer weekend hours for processing of absentee ballots, too. That will make it easier for Ohioans to participate in the election - and may lessen lines at polling places on Nov. 4." 8/20/08
Elections Board Encourages Absentee Voting - "What if you have a meeting or something else comes up for you on Election Day?" Ann Block, field representative for Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's office, 8/19/08
Vote early? Not often - "...there probably will be long lines before the Nov. 4 presidential election, and voters need to know going in that early voting may be slow." 8/14/08
Ohio political party leaders spar over voting rule - "Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, told county election officials that under a law that has been in effect for more than two years, they must let voters register and cast an absentee ballot on the spot during a five-day period ending Oct. 6, the registration deadline." 8/13/08
Impact of timing of voter's death: Absentee Balloting - What to do with the ballots of those who pass away in the increasingly significant period of time between when ballots are cast and when they are counted. 7/10/08