Published: July 15, 2008 12:18 pm            

Absentee ballot deadline is near

The deadline for voters who need absentee ballots mailed to them for the upcoming July 29 primary election is approaching.

The deadline is at 5 p.m. on July 23, but those who want to vote by mail-in absentee ballot should go ahead and apply, said Pittsburg County Election Board Secretary Cathy Thornton.

Absentee ballot applications can now be obtained in two ways. They can be picked up at the election board office at 10 E. Washington Ave., Suite 106, in the Professional Building west of McAlester City Hall.

The forms can also be downloaded and printed out by computer at the Oklahoma State Election board’s Web site at www.elections.state.ok.us.

For a mail-in absentee ballot to be counted, at least two mail transactions must be made, Thornton said.

“The county election board must mail the ballots to the voter and the voter must return the voted ballot by mail,” she said.

The voted ballots must be in the hands of election officials by 7 p.m. on July 29, Thornton said.

Races on the ballot for the July 29 election include primaries for Pittsburg County sheriff and a race for an unexpired term for the District 3 County Commission seat left vacant by the resignation of Randy Crone.

Also on the ballot is a question for a quarter-cent sales tax to benefit fire departments in Pittsburg County. Primaries for state corporation commissioner, the District 2 U.S. House seat currently held by Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, and the U.S. Senate seat held by Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, are also on the ballot.

Any registered voter may cast a ballot by absentee ballot without giving a reason or excuse, Thornton said.

However, the law still provides for several excuses, and it’s to the advantage of some voters to use one of them, she said.

Several groups of voters can activate special conditions by stating a reason on their applications, Thornton said.

They include:

• Voters who are physically incapacitated and voters who care for the physically incapacitated.

• Voters who live in nursing homes. An Absentee Voting Board will go to the nursing home a few days before the election and set up a small polling place, Thornton said.

• Military personnel and county residents living overseas, as well as their spouses and dependents who would be qualified to vote can cast absentee ballots without being registered.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.

        

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