Still waiting on your absentee ballot for the Nov. 7 election? Here are your options
A Summit County voter and his wife waited two weeks for their absentee ballot before deciding the United States Post Office was cutting it too close for comfort.
The couple, who shared their experience with a reporter in an email, mailed out their absentee ballot application two weeks ago. But the ballot never arrived. So, they went Friday to the Early Vote center on Grant Street and cast a new absentee ballot over the counter — eliminating any doubt that their vote would be be timely and count in the fast-approaching election.
Of the 42,372 Summit County voters who've requested absentee ballots, 5,848 have not yet cast them. Some may be waiting to fill out and return their ballots by mail to the election board office. Nearly 5,000 of these outstanding ballots were requested by Oct. 27, the date that the Raymonds mailed in their application.
Many of the 5,848 outstanding ballots will be returned. More than 1,000 absentee ballots arrived by mail at the board of elections in the two days before the August special election this year. By the end of that election, 450 requested absentee ballots remained outstanding.
Some people change their minds about voting by mail and, instead, show up in person on Election Day. Others just don't vote after requesting an absentee ballot.
Summit County Election Day Guide: News, information on your ballot; Ohio Issues 1 and 2
Occasionally, though, the ballots get lost in the mail. They never arrive or arrive after the Monday before the election, which is the last day an absentee ballot can be postmarked and still count.
"It definitely happens, more than we'd like," said Pete Zeigler, deputy director for the Summit County Board of Elections.
Zeigler said his staff receive "occasional" concerns from voters still waiting on their absentee ballots just days before the Nov. 7 election. Election officials pass these concerns along to the United States Post Office.
"We do reach out, and the Secretary of State's office, as well, reaches out because this is the kind of thing that we get some complaints about every election. It makes sense if you think of the of the sheer volume of ballots [postal workers] deal with," Zeigler said. "And that's a human process."
What to do if you haven't received an absentee ballot
If you still haven't received the absentee ballot you requested by mail, here are your options:
Wait for the ballot to arrive in your mailbox, fill it out and return it by mail Monday. This is cutting it close. Ballots postmarked by Monday should count, if properly completed, but they must be received by the board of election within four days of Election Day.
Wait for the ballot and hand deliver it to the board office at at 470 Grant St., where there's a drive-up drop box, by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 7.
Go to the Early Vote center on Sunday until 5 p.m. There, the ballot voters requested by mail, wherever they are, would be voided. A replacement ballot would be issued on the spot and accepted over the counter.
Vote in person at a designated polling location on Nov. 7 between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Because the system shows voters have requested absentee ballots, these voters would cast a provisional ballot, which is counted once election workers verify that the absentee ballots never made it back to the board of elections.
Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.con or 330-996-3792.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: My absentee ballot hasn't arrived. What can I do to vote by Nov. 7?
