When I looked over the Absentee ballot packet the Pottawatomie County Election Board had mailed to me the other day I thought there was something missing.
I knew there was a bond election ballot that I had received in a similar packet in March for the April election that was deferred because of COVID-19. I believed that anything on the election had been postponed until June 30.
Honestly, I believed our local election board had just left that ballot out of my packet. I knew if that were the case, it would be a first since I began voting absentee a few years back.
So, it was time to call and check it out, though I had more than four weeks before having to send the ballot to the county Election Board.
Jeannie Stover, Election Board Secretary, answered the phone herself. She quickly answered my concern. Turns out I was wrong. Should have paid closer attention to information that had been distributed through various media.
The bond election in the school district I reside in had been pushed back until August. So was another in a nearby school district.
Jeannie informed me the schools had the option of moving their ballot questions to the June 30 election or they could wait and hold them on Aug. 25. That’s the date for the Runoff primary and Special elections and the school bond issues are under the Special elections category.
It didn’t surprise me at all I was wrong. Stover and her staff do an excellent job as did her predecessor Diana Knight that Stover worked for so many years.
Among the materials in the Absentee ballot packet are the ballot or ballots I will vote on, the instructions for voting by Absentee Ballot and the Voter verification Affidavit envelope.
This year, because of Senate Bill 210 passed by the Legislature, there are new options for the verification.
Instead of having your signature witnessed by two people, you have the option of attaching a copy of an identification document to the affidavit envelope instead.
You still have to sign the affidavit but you can attach one of the following forms of identification considered acceptable under Oklahoma law.
One is a valid photo identification issued by the state of Oklahoma or by a federally recognized Native American nation or tribe.
Another is a valid photo ID issued by a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces because of being a member or a retired member of that service branch.
The third is the free Voter ID card mailed to you by the County Election Board when you register to vote.
Personally, I will continue to just have the affidavit notarized. That’s pretty simple.
I began voting by Absentee ballot several years ago. It’s easy and the Election Board always mails the ballots and materials well in advance of when they need to be returned.
But this time I did learn a lesson. Pay more attention to what is going on out there.