Published: January 28, 2008 10:55 am         

Absentee voters may vote absentee in person

Registered voters in Garfield County who want to vote by absentee ballot in the presidential preferential primary and the annual school elections at Waukomis I-1, Pioneer-Pleasant Vale I-56, Pond Creek-Hunter I-90, Hennessey I-16 and Mulhall-Orlando I-3 on Feb. 5, 2008, have until Wednesday, Jan. 30, to register for a mailed absentee ballot, said Lue Ann Root, County Election Board secretary.

If the voter does not register for a mailed absentee ballot, there is still another possibility for them to vote absentee.

“They aren’t out of luck,” Root said.

Voters who want to cast absentee ballots in person may also do so at the County Election Board office, located at 903 Failing Ave., in Enid, on Friday, Feb. 1, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. or, Monday, Feb. 4, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. A two-member, bipartisan absentee voting board will be on duty each day to assist absentee voters.

“In-person absentee voters fill out an application form when they get to the office. They are not required to give a reason for voting absentee,” Root said. “They are required to swear they have not voted a regular mail absentee ballot and they will not vote at their polling places on election day.”

The absentee voting board verifies a voter’s registration information, then issues the voter his or her ballots. The voter marks the ballots in a voting booth and then puts them in the voting device.

“It is very much like voting at a precinct polling place,” said Root.

Contact the County Election Board at 237-6016 for more information.