Voters offered advance ballot option

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

On Tuesday, Nov. 7, people across the United States will flock to the polls to cast their votes in the upcoming midterm elections.

However, for those who cannot make it to the booth on Nov. 7 or simply do not want to wait until then, a voting system known as advance voting is now available. Advance voting began in Kansas on Oct. 18.

Advance voting allows any registered voter to cast his or her ballot either by mail or in person up to 20 days before Election Day. Bourbon County Clerk Joanne Long said the system is similar to absentee ballots but with an important difference.

"It used to be called absentee ballots, but with that, you had to have a reason, an excuse," Long said. "With advance voting, if someone just wants to vote and get it over with, they can."

In order to submit an advance ballot, one must fill out an advance voting application.

The application can be obtained in a few ways.

Applications can be picked up at the Bourbon County Courthouse, 210 S. National Ave., or can either be mailed or faxed to the voter. To have an application mailed or faxed, the applicant must contact Long at (620) 223-3800.

Applications can also be printed from the Internet at http://www.kssos.org/elections/elections_registration_voting.html.

Any registered voter wanting to vote by mail must have an application submitted by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3, in order to allow for ballots to be sent and returned through the mail system before Election Day. Long said all ballots must be in by the end of voting on Nov. 7.

Anyone wanting to simply vote in person before Election Day can visit the Bourbon County Courthouse, Long said.

Also, while applications can be received and sent by fax, ballots cannot be sent that way. The only exception, Long said, is that U.S. military men and women overseas can submit their ballots by fax.

It's been a week since advance voting began in Kansas, and Long said many in this area have already taken advantage of the opportunity.

"We've had an awful lot of that," Long said, "especially this year."

As of Tuesday, Long said, she has sent out more than 600 advance ballots by mail.

One of the reasons for the high number, Long said, is that candidates are mailing advance voting applications to registered voters across the state. She added that she knows of at least one candidate who is going door-to-door to hand out applications.

The only reason an advance voting application would be rejected, Long said, is if the applicant was not a registered voter. The voter registration deadline was 5 p.m. Monday.

For more information, contact the Bourbon County Courthouse.