MOUNT VERNON — What is being termed as a misunderstanding, has, at best, caused some confusion about how prospective absentee voters will get their ballot applications for this year’s general election.
Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed a law requiring all counties to mail absentee ballot applications to voters along with a 60-day notice of the Nov. 4 election. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner sent out a directive which makes the absentee mailings optional rather than mandatory.
“In federal elections in even years, before the primaries and the general elections, we are required to make a 60-day mailing notice to all voters in the county, telling them about the election and what the ID requirements are going to be,” explained Rita Yarman, director of the Knox County Board of Elections. “The Legislature thought they would help out by offering to pay for the return postage if we would have something printed with that notice, something that could be torn off and filled out [to request] an absentee ballot. Then we could get grant money or state money as reimbursement for the return postage.”
Yarman said Brunner’s interpretation of the legislation is at odds with what was intended.
“Her intepretation was that it was up to the counties,” Yarman said. “It all had to be tracked through the postage and we would have to turn in paperwork with an accounting of it, which is only reasonable.
“But it’s very complicated. It’s not that we are opposed to doing that, it’s just that it would take more personnel. And if it wasn’t done right, we wouldn’t be reimbursed for that money. The county would have to eat it.
“We received ... the original letter from the Legislature stating it was their intention that all counties would do that dual mailing,” Yarman continued. “And that was not the way the secretary interpreted it. Her directive was that it was an optional thing. We opted not to do it because of the complicated way of tracking it.”
The Legislature did not allocate enough money for all 88 counties to do the dual mailing. House Speaker Jon Husted and Senate President Bill Harris have said the Legislature would provide more money if all of the counties decided to do the dual mailing.
“I wasn’t aware that the legislature had told [Brunner] that they would go back and allocate more money,” Yarman said. “There was no guarentee that would actually happen.”
Yarman also pointed out that, although the board is under the direction of the Secretary of State’s office, funding comes from the county. It is local tax dollars that pay for running the election.
The election notices will be sent out from the Knox County Board of Elections on Sept. 5. For those wanting to request an absentee ballot, there are two choices.
“The first day of absentee voting is Sept. 30,” Yarman said. “They can come into the office and request an absentee ballot. Then they can either vote in the office, or take the ballot home and fill it out. But no one can take someone else’s ballot. I want to make that perfectly clear. Not even a spouse can take a ballot. Only the voter can do that. Even a regular power of attorney has no meaning in an election process. No one can sign for someone else’s ballot or carry it out of the office for them.
“Or the voter can call the board office and ask for an absentee request form which the board would send to them. The board needs certain information and a signature on the request form before a ballot can be issued.
“There are lots of candidates and issues in addition to the presidential race this year,” Yarman said. “We encourage people who want to vote absentee to get their ballot early so they can review all the choices.”
For more information about the absentee ballot process, call the board of elections at 393-6716.
