November 12, 07

NEWS / Getting absentee ballot should be made easier

Linked from: http://www.republicanherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19014572&BRD=2626&PAG=461&dept_id=530483&rfi=6

Written by: Joann Dalton

My husband has a serious back problem and cannot walk. He requested an absentee ballot in order to cast his vote.

Upon asking a knowledgeable person for this absentee ballot, the procedure is as follows:

You must first go to the election headquarters in Pottsville, and we live in Orwigsburg, to get this absentee ballot (a supplement ballot, I believe they call them nowadays), which must be completed and then taken to a notary public to verify.

Now, if my husband was well enough to go to Pottsville and then to a notary public, he would have been well enough to vote in person. Does this make sense?

Why not have the encumbered person complete the ballot and have someone witness his signature?

As a result of this procedure, he could not vote in last week’s election. He is a 20-year retiree from the service and fought for the right to vote and now he is denied this right.

And you call this democracy and your right to vote? Something is wrong with this picture.



Tags: notary, notary public,