CHENANGO COUNTY – The Chenango County Board of Elections would like all registered voters to ask themselves if they will be in the area on Election Day.
Democrat and Republican election commissioners Carol Franklin and Harriet Jenkins want to remind any registered Chenango County voter who will not be in the area Nov. 6, or who has a disability preventing them from getting to an election booth, to apply for an absentee ballot.
“If someone is going on vacation, or their occupation has them working out of the county, or is confined to a hospital, they must fill out an absentee application,” said Jenkins.
The absentee ballot application can be requested by telephone or in person at the Board of Elections in the Chenango County Office Building, 5 Court St., Norwich. The Board of Elections offices is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The board also will remain open four additional days for absentee voting: Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 until 7 p.m., and Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Voters in question about their registration status may call the board Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“People have already filled them out and are actually voting right now,” said Jenkins.
The elections authority has already processed more than 500 absentee ballots that were calculated ahead of time for military personnel and other exceptions.
“We don’t know how many we’ll actually have,” said Jenkins. The ballots can be mailed back, but they must be postmarked before the day of election, no later than Nov. 5. If the ballots are marked the day of the election, state law declares they can not be counted.
“The date of voter registration passed Oct. 12, so it’s too late to register for this year’s elections,” said Jenkins.
People who have moved recently need to fill out a change of address form at the office or use an affidavit ballot on Election Day because they will not be on their local roster.
The county will still be using lever machines this year and will have an Avente ballot marking machine available to all registered voters at the Guernsey Memorial Library in Norwich.
The Commissioners of Elections have announced that the following polling sites have been changed since the 2007 General Election:
