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Absentee Voting begins March 29
The Darke County Board of Elections will be
conducting absentee voting for the upcoming May 3, 2011, Primary
Election, beginning Tuesday, March 29, 2011.
Pursuant to the change in Section 3509 of the
Ohio Revised Code, any registered voter who chooses to vote absentee,
can do so without the prior restricted eligibility requirements.
However, with that change, there are other requirements that a voter
must meet. The application must include the name, voter residence
address, voter’s birth date, plus one of the following – an Ohio
driver’s license number, the last four digits of your Social Security
number, or a copy of a current and valid photo identification, a
current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or
other government document that shows your name and address, along with
applicant’s signature, election for which the ballots are requested
and, if a partisan primary election, the voter’s political party
affiliation. The request can be made on a standard Application
for Absent Voter’s Ballot, which is provided upon request from the
Board office, or a written request from the voter with the necessary
information.
Also, absentee ballot requests may be made in
person at the Board of Elections office on the day before Election Day,
Monday May 2, 2011. The deadline for mail-in applications
remains 12:00 noon on the third day before the Election, Saturday,
April 30th. If a voter, or voter’s minor child, is
hospitalized because of an accident or medical emergency, the voter may
apply for an absentee ballot until 3 p.m. Any person confined in a
hospital on Election Day, or those parents who have hospitalized
children on Election Day, may apply to vote absentee without regard to
the length of the hospital stay. Those confined to the hospital
or are otherwise disabled or suffer a physical infirmity may request
assistance in marking their ballot. Two election workers will
come to the voter, assist them in marking the ballot and return the
voted ballot to the Board office. This service is for CONFINED
ABSENTEE VOTERS WHO ARE UNABLE TO MARK THEIR BALLOTS BY REASON OF
EITHER ILLITERACY OR PHYSICAL INFIRMITY ONLY. Assistance is
available at the Board office as needed also.
Regular office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., Monday through Friday. Absentee voting will also be
available the Saturday before the Election, April 30th at the Board
office from 9:00 a.m. until noon.
Completed ballots must be returned to the
Board of Elections in person or by mail before the close of the polls,
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 3, 2011, to be counted. The only
exception is, if the voter is outside of the United States on Election
Day, the ballot envelope must be postmarked prior to the close of the
polls and received by the board no later than 10 days after the
election or 20 days after the presidential election.
Any questions regarding this information or
requests for assistance in absentee voting may call the office at
548-1835 during the above stated hours or contact us by email at darke@sos.state.oh.us.
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