Absentee deadline Friday

The last day to request an absentee ballot by mail from the Washington County Auditor?s office is Friday. The last time an absentee ballot can be cast at the auditor?s office is 11 a.m. Tuesday. After that point, the ballot must be submitted at a precinct location while the polling place is open on election day.

Washington County Auditor Bill Fredrick said he has received 70 requests for absentee ballots this year, 41 of those are from Washington and another 19 from Riverside. He said there is a smattering of requests from the other towns in the county. The last city election, in 2009, there were 86 requests for absentee ballots from the city of Washington. There were no contested races that year, although Washington residents did vote on whether to implement a hotel-motel tax.

Fredrick said that a person?s absentee ballot will not be counted if he dies or registers in a different precinct between mailing in the ballot and the day of the election.

In order for the absentee ballot to be counted, it must be postmarked no later than Monday, Nov. 7, and received at the auditor?s office no later than Monday, Nov. 14.

He said that he usually receives more absentee requests when the election is contested. In Washington, two candidates are vying for a single seat on the city council. In Riverside, two candidates are vying for the mayor?s seat and seven candidates are vying for three seats on the council. In Wellman, four candidates are running to fill three seats on the council.

Fredrick said that optical machines will be used to count votes in Washington and Riverside and that all of the other precincts will have their votes counted by hand. The law requires that any city of 5,000 inhabitants or more use an optical scan machine. Fredrick said he chose to put another machine in Riverside to make the election workers? job easier because of the number of candidates on the ballot.

A new law requires that any time an optical scan machine is used at a precinct, a handicapped-accessible voting machine must accompany it. A handicapped-accessible machine features brail and an audio recording of the choices available on the ballot. The two precincts in Washington and the precinct in Riverside will thus employ handicapped-accessible machines but not the other towns.

In 2010, the last general election, Fredrick said there were nearly 3,200 absentee requests, which constituted almost 34 percent of all votes that year. The cost of elections is much higher in general election years as opposed to city election years. In 2010, the county spent just under $25,000 on the election. In 2009, the county spent about $7,500. Fredrick said the reason for the added expense in the general election year is that the county uses optical scan and handicapped-accessible voting machines in every precinct in the county.

?Everybody who requests an absentee ballot is bound by law to return it,? Fredrick said. ?It used to be a misdemeanor if you didn?t return the ballot.?

Fredrick said that most people who request absentee ballots do not give a reason for their request. They are not required to give a reason, although that was not always the case.

?Some people vote early because they realize they?re going to be gone that day,? he said. ?At one time, you had to have a legitimate reason for requesting an absentee ballot. Later, one of the legitimate reasons was that you chose to vote absentee, and then eventually they did away with the requirement to give a reason.?

Fredrick said that taxpayers pay for the absentee ballot to be mailed out. Until recently, the voter was responsible for paying for the postage to mail the ballot to the county auditor, although the Iowa legislature changed that so that now the voter doesn?t pay for any postage.

The last day to register to vote was Oct. 28, although residents can still register to vote on election day. To register on election day, the resident must bring with him a photo ID and proof of residence, which can include a payroll check, bank statement, rental agreement, etc.