Apply for Absentee Ballot soon

The June 12, Primary Elections in South Carolina are fast approaching and those wishing to vote absentee need to apply for a ballot soon, tells Oconee County Voter Registration and Elections Director Joy Scharich. “We have Absentee Voting and it gets confusing because states right beside us have what is called No Excuse Early Voting, but ours is still called Absentee Voting but there is 17 reasons that you can vote by absentee. Of course, our U.S. military, anybody living overseas, over 65-years-of-age, a physical disability, persons on vacation, persons working outside the county on election day, so there are a lot of reasons. The issue on that is if you want it mailed to you now is the time. Call the office and give us time to get our documents that we need back from you so that when the ballots come in we can go ahead and get it back to you. We always have those that wait until the Friday before the election and say I need my ballot mailed and it is heartbreaking to know somebody is probably homebound and can’t get out to vote but there is no way we can get that ballot to them that quick, so don’t wait. If you need to vote through the mail, you can do that now and get that process started. In person, it will open on Monday, May 14, and that is for walk in, in person Absentee Voting. We don’t mail any ballots after that Thursday or Friday just knowing that they are not going to get back or we don’t do any applications at that time. So, the thing is get it done now, get the process started so we have time to get that ballot and you have time to get it back to us.” The number for the Oconee County Voter Registration and Elections Office is 864-638-4196. To learn more, visit www.scvotes.org.