Garvin County voters who want absentee ballots mailed to them for the Aug. 27 primary runoff election should apply now, according to Garvin County Election Board Secretary Gayla Dean.
While no primary runoffs are set in Garvin County, the August election ballot will include a county sales tax proposition and school bond elections in the Wynnewood and Lindsay school districts.
The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is 5 p.m. on Aug. 12. Applications are available at the County Election Board office on the first floor of the Garvin County Courthouse, 201 W. Grant Ave., in Pauls Valley.
Applications are also available online at oklahoma. gov/elections, or voters may submit a request through the OK Voter Portal at oklahoma.gov/elections/ ovp.
Absentee ballots are available to all registered voters, provided they are eligible to vote in the election requested. No excuse is needed to vote by absentee ballot.
Dean said voters should be aware they must be registered and reside at an address within the boundaries of a school district or municipality to be eligible to vote in elections for that entity.
All standard absentee ballots must be notarized before being returned. However, voters who meet certain conditions may be eligible for exemptions that can make it easier for them to vote by absentee ballot.
Those include voters who are physically incapacitated or who care for physically incapacitated persons who cannot be left alone. Voters requesting a “physically incapacitated” ballot, must have the signature on their absentee ballot affidavit witnessed by two people.
Voters confined to nursing homes in the county may vote absentee and will have their ballots hand-delivered to them by the county’s bipartisan Absentee Voting Board. Those ballot affidavits are witnessed by two members of the bipartisan board.
Military personnel and residents living overseas, along with their spouses and dependents are also eligible for certain allowances. Military personnel should contact the voting services officer in their unit for an absentee ballot application.
Residents living overseas may obtain absentee ballot applications from any United States military installation or United States embassy or consulate.
Military personnel and overseas citizens who are already registered voters in Oklahoma may apply for absentee ballots using the OK Voter Portal at oklahoma. gov/elections/ovp. Those who need to complete a new voter registration application should apply through the Federal Voting Assistance Program at fvap. gov/oklahoma.
Completed absentee ballots must be in the hands of the County Election Board no later than 7 p.m. on election day in order to be counted.
Those who still need to register to vote or voters who need to change their registration ahead of the Aug. 27 election have until Aug. 2 to do so.
Anyone who is a United States citizens, a resident of Oklahoma, and at least 18 years old may apply to become a registered voter.
Voter registration forms are available at the County Election Board office and at most post offices, tag agencies and public libraries in the county. They are also available on the State Election Board website at oklahoma.gov/elections.
Voter registration applications must be postmarked by midnight Aug. 2. Dean said applications postmarked after that time will be accepted and processed, but not until after Aug. 27.
For more information, contact the Garvin County Election Board at 405-2383303.
