The applications to request an absentee ballot for this year’s election have already been mailed out to registered voters across the state. It’s up to you to fill out the form and get it back to your local Registrar of Voters. The actual absentee ballots will be sent out starting October 2.
Once you receive yours and make your selections, you can either put your ballot in the mail or return it to the ballot box outside your town hall. Just make sure it gets there no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day, which is November 3. You can check the status of your ballot, to see if it was received, by going to myvotect.gov/lookup.
As for how all those absentee votes are counted, the Secretary of the State’s Office says by law, they can’t be counted in advance of election night unless the Governor makes a special executive order or the legislature decides otherwise in special session. That means it may take a little longer to tally up the votes. FOX61 asked Secretary of the State Denise Merrill this month about what voters should expect.
“I would just tell the public, be patient. I think it might take a little longer this year, no question,” said Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.
The Secretary of the State’s Office says there were no anomalies to report when the office did an audit of the primary ballots a few weeks ago. It’s hoping for a smooth process for Election Day and will be keeping an eye on the voter rolls to make sure each person’s vote is counted once.
“What if someone voted absentee, can they still come in and vote twice when they come in in person? The answer is no, because at the end of the night, we compare the lists, and if there’s someone who just to be safe decided to come in and vote because they weren’t sure if their ballot got there or whatever, that absentee ballot would be discarded,” said Merrill.