Absentee ballot request deadline

Wednesday, October 31 at 5:00 p.m. is the deadline for Oklahoma’s registered voters to request an absentee ballot from election officials if they do not wish or will be unable to vote in-person November 6 at their assigned polling place.

“If you plan to vote in the general election by absentee ballot, you must submit an absentee ballot application to election officials by next Wednesday, October 31 at 5:00 p.m.,” said State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax. “Otherwise, your remaining options will be either to vote early at your county election board location on November 2, 3, or 5—or in-person at your regular polling place on November 6,” Ziriax explained.

“Nearly 32,000 Oklahomans have already cast their ballots for the November 6 General Election, and demand for absentee ballots continues to be very strong,” Ziriax said. “As of 11:00 a.m. on October 26, county election boards statewide have distributed a total of 66,010 absentee ballots, and Oklahomans have returned 31,653 voted absentee ballots to election officials,” Ziriax added.

Absentee ballot application forms are available at all county election board offices statewide and online at http://elections.ok.gov.

Completed absentee ballot applications must be submitted to the county election board in the county where a voter is registered to vote. Addresses and fax numbers for all 77 county election board offices are available on the above website.

In order to be counted, voted absentee ballot affidavits must be notarized and returned either by postal mail or private delivery service to the voter’s county election board and received by 7 p.m. on November 6. Absentee ballot affidavits from physically incapacitated voters must be signed by two witnesses and returned to the voter’s county election board by the same time and date.

More information about absentee ballots, and answers to other common election-related questions, can be found online at the State Election Board’s website: http://elections.ok.gov.