Absentee ballot requests continue to flood the county election office. About 4,000 Macon County voters have requested absentee ballots for the 2020 election, up from 956 for the entire 2016 election cycle.
The process is going smoothly, except for some confusion caused by voters receiving unsolicited absentee ballot request forms, according to Gary Tallent, deputy elections director.
Voters who have requested an absentee ballot from the elections office, filled it out and sent it back are receiving unsolicited request forms from both major parties, along with the nonprofit Center for Voter Information in Raleigh, which has reportedly mailed 1.8 million forms.
“Most people think they’re coming from us,” Tallent said. “We only send one when the voters themselves call and request it. I think what is throwing them is the return envelope from these other groups already has our address label on it. I can understand the confusion.”
Voters have also expressed concerns about their absentee ballots being delivered by mail in time.
“There’s a lot of people bringing their ballots back in person,” he said.
Tallent said the elections office has brought in temporary workers to process absentee ballots.
As of Sept. 21, the elections office had received about 4,000 completed absentee ballot forms, compared to 965 for the entire 2016 election cycle.
Here are some important dates voters should know:
• The deadline to register to vote is Friday, Oct. 9.
• The deadline to request a ballot by mail is Tuesday, Oct 15.
• The early voting period runs from Thursday, Oct. 15 to Saturday, Oct. 31.
• Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.