Absentee voting opens Tuesday County clerk says absentee voters should act quickly to make sure their vote counts in Nov. 3 election

Absentee voting for the Nov. 3 presidential election opens Tuesday, Sept. 22, in Missouri, and Ozark County Clerk Brian Wise encourages registered voters to act early if they plan on voting absentee rather than voting in person on election day.

In response to questions from the Times last week, Wise said in an email that his office is “preparing for more ballots to go through the mail than ever seen in Ozark County.”  

Wednesday, Oct. 7, is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election. To register, visit the clerk’s office in the courthouse or, to begin the registration process, visit the Missouri Secretary of State’s website (sos.mo.gov). Click on “elections and voting” and then “register to vote.”

Registered voters may vote in person at the county clerk’s office in the courthouse beginning Tuesday. 

Those who cannot or choose not to vote absentee in person may apply for an absentee ballot by calling the county clerk’s office at 417-679-3516. An application will be mailed to the voter, and when that application is completed and returned to the clerk’s office, an absentee ballot will be mailed to the voter. 

Registered voters may also print off an application from the Secretary of State’s website (sos.mo.gov). Click on “elections and voting” then “voting information” and then “absentee voting.” After completing and signing the application, it can be mailed to the county clerk at P.O. Box 416, Gainesville, MO 65655, or faxed to 417-679-3209, or attached to an email addressed to Ozark@sos.mo.gov. 

Recently passed legislation has changed some aspects of absentee voting. Some voters’ absentee ballots must be notarized before they are returned by mail, depending on the information the voter provides on the ballot application. 

Wise said absentee, or mail-in, ballots don’t have to be notarized “if a person checks the box that says, ‘I have contracted or am in an at-risk category for contracting or transmitting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, pursuant to Section 115.277.6, RSMo.’” 

“At risk voters” are defined as individuals who:

• are 65 years of age or older

• have serious heart conditions

• are immunocompromised 

• have liver disease 

• live in a long-term care facility licensed under Chapter 198, RSMo.

• have chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma 

• have chronic kidney disease and are undergoing dialysis 

• have diabetes.

Wise noted that these specifications allowing absentee ballots to be mailed without notarization are in addition to the longstanding option that says mailed absentee ballots don’t have to be notarized if voters have “incapacity or confinement due to illness or physical disability, including caring for a person who is incapacitated or confined due to illness or disability.”

He also said the absentee ballot may be signed “by the voter’s guardian or a relative within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity.” Call the clerk’s office for more information about who falls within that “second degree of consanguinity or affinity.”

Privacy regulations prohibit the clerk’s office from checking on voters’ health issues, Wise said. “However, all voters signing an absentee application do so by attesting that ‘I do solemnly swear that all statements made on this application are true to the best of my knowledge and belief’ – or other wording that is very close to this, at possible risk of perjury if they make a statement they know is untrue,” he said.

Recent changes in the U.S. Postal Service have reportedly resulted in slowed mail deliveries in some areas. Wise said he has been in contact with “the USPS Mailing Standards Specialist for Mid-America, who is also the Election Mail Coordinator. Once a ballot leaves my office, it is in their hands, but also, the voter has responsibility.”

That “responsibility” includes acting promptly, Wise said. 

“Over the years, we have had a lot more issues with voters either waiting until the last second to mail their ballot back to us, or not mailing it back at all, than we have had with the USPS not delivering ballots in a timely manner,” he said. “I suggest that voters request an absentee ballot as soon as they can and get that ballot back to us as quickly as possible after they are finished voting.” 

Here are deadlines to keep in mind:

• Voted absentee ballots can be hand-delivered to the clerk’s office by the voter until 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, and as late as 7 p.m. on election night if delivered by a relative who is within that “second degree of consanguinity or affinity” mentioned above.

• The last day the clerk’s office can mail anything is Oct. 28. Anyone who wants to vote absentee after that must go to the clerk’s office in the courthouse to do so.

To confirm that your ballot has reached the clerk’s office, call the office at 417-679-3516. 

Wise explained how absentee ballots are counted on election night:

“Absentee ballots are gone through to verify that the voter did everything they needed to do for their absentee vote to count (i.e., a notary was received if required, the envelope is signed, etc.),” he said in the email. 

The bi-partisan absentee election judges decide, on election day, if a ballot will be counted or is disqualified. This process usually happens “late in the afternoon on election day,” Wise said, adding, “After the envelopes have been gone through, the judges run the ballots that were verified through a machine (exactly like the machines at the polls), and the absentee votes are tallied. Absentees are treated as a separate precinct and are not totaled into any other precinct.”

Absentee voters can call the clerk’s office “within a week after the election,” to confirm whether their ballot was counted or disqualified.