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In most states, you must apply for an absentee (mail in) ballot in advance of the deadline, usually seven days before Election Day, but sometimes more. What happens if you suddenly become ill after the absentee ballot application deadline has passed? Or if you get suddenly called out of town on a business trip and cannot return until after Election Day? In many states, you can request an “emergency absentee ballot” or ask to vote early at the county elections office. However, the laws in each state are different. For example, in Kentucky, you and your spouse can get an absentee ballot if you suffer a medical emergency between October 21 and November 3, but otherwise you have to demonstrate that you are absent from the county on all other days in which “absentee voting at the county clerk's office” is taking place. |
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We ALL need to confirm our voter registration. In fact, if you've done so already, check again since unlawful purging of names from the rolls is ongoing in many states. Even in states where registration deadlines have expired, it's still possible that some county clerks will allow you to show identification to them before November 4 so you can vote on a regular vs. provisional ballot. You really don't want to use a provisional ballot if you have a choice. Large numbers of provisional ballots will be thrown away. (Note that some states allow provisional voters to take further steps for a limited time after the election so their vote can be counted.) Analysis of the 2004 election showed that a third of all provisional ballots - as many as 1 million votes - were uncounted, with similar results in 2006. |
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According to USPS communications available only to Postal Service employees, "Absentee balloting materials must not be detained or treated as unpaid mail." (The foregoing was dictated over the phone to me by a USPS customer service representative.) The U.S. Postal Service should make its no-return policy public and ensure that local post offices know as well. So why should you care and bother to add postage to your absentee ballot before mailing it? Well, we're still going to end up paying for this postage one way or the other, starting with higher postage rates. |
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There is one thing on which there is bi-partisan – indeed, non-partisan – agreement: the voter turnout on Election Day will be of historic proportions. Unless you are certain you can spend however long it takes (remember Ohio: up to 12 hours in the cold and rain…) for you to wait in line to vote on November 4, apply for a mail-in (absentee) ballot or vote early in person, if either option is available to you . Polling places were overwhelmed during the primaries this year with a record 56 million voters, 23 million more than ever before. Many millions of voters have been registered since then, with an increasing and intense interest in this presidential election. Two-thirds of voters will encounter new equipment, and we can expect more instances of all-too-common flawed machinery. |
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In this divisive presidential election season, one thing everyone agrees on is that voter turnout is likely to hit historic highs. Electionline.org reports that the number of voters, in 36 states, during the recent presidential primaries was the highest in eight years. But there is also cause for great concern, because history shows that more and more voters are also being disenfranchised. Recently, the Washington Post and Wired paint a frightening picture:
Ironically, these problems are at least partly due to efforts to improve the voting experience. Congress passed something called the Help America Vote Act after the 2000 presidential election problems – a time when more than 1.3 million registered voters complained of registration failures - and allocated $3 billion to overhaul and update the system.
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