Time to Vote by Absentee Ballot Is Almost Up
Thursday is the deadline to apply to vote by absentee ballot, but you’ll have to go in person to the Circuit Clerk’s Office in the courthouse to do it.
The absentee ballots themselves must be returned to the circuit clerk’s office by Monday, the day before the election, to be counted. Absentee ballots that are received in that office before noon on election day also will be counted.
The deadline to apply by mail passed earlier this week.
There are exceptions for emergency situations, such as unforeseen work commitments and emergency medical situations, that could allow you to vote up to the day before the election.
In general, you can vote absentee in Alabama for a limited number of reasons that fall into two categories, infirmity and absence.
People who will be out of the county on the day of the election can vote by absentee. This includes Jefferson County residents who live elsewhere but vote in the county, such as if they are in the military and deployed or students attending school out of the county.
People who have a physical infirmity that does not allow them to go to the polls and their caregivers who also are relatives also may apply for an absentee ballot.
There are emergency provisions for people whose employers at the last minute give them assignments that would make them unable to go to the polls on election day, people who have medical emergencies requiring treatment within five days of the election and their caregivers, and people who have a family member to the second degree of kinship die within five days of the election.
In cases of medical emergency, the ballot application requires that the attending physician describe and certify the circumstances as constituting an emergency. The voter may designate someone to turn in the medical emergency absentee ballot application and return the filled-in ballot to the absentee election manager before noon on the election day.
