Students who plan on voting via absentee ballot in the New York state primaries are running out of time. Applications must be received by mail Tuesday or be delivered in person to the Onondaga County Board of Elections by April 23, the day before the New York state GOP primary. All students who wish to complete a ballot must be registered voters in New York state. Here are four easy steps to voting with an absentee ballot:

1. Verify your registration.

Don’t worry if you’ve lost your voter registration card; you won’t need it to actually vote. However, it is recommended that students double check their registration before applying for an absentee ballot.

Students can verify their voter registration online at the NYSVoter Public Information website. Registration can also be verified through the Onondaga County Board of Elections, located at 1000 Erie Boulevard West in Syracuse.

2. Confirm you are eligible to vote by absentee ballot.

Each state has different qualifications a person must meet to apply for an absentee ballot. In New York state, you are eligible to vote absentee if you will be:

Unavoidably absent from your county on Election Day

Unable to appear at the polls due to illness or disability

A patient in a Veterans’ Administration Hospital

Detained in jail awaiting grand jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony

3. Apply for your absentee ballot.

Because the deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail has passed, students looking to vote via an absentee ballot should download the application online at longdistancevoter.org. The application will request personal information, as well as a description of why you chose to vote absentee. Then, mail in or deliver the application to the Onondaga County Board of Elections before the deadline.

4. Receive, complete and return your absentee ballot.

The Board of Elections will mail applicants an absentee ballot and a return envelope. Fill out your ballot, sign it and then mail it back the county Board of Elections. Your ballot must be postmarked the day before voting, April 24, or personally delivered to the county Board of Elections no later than the closing of polls.

-Compiled by Liz Sawyer, news editor, egsawyer@syr.edu

Source: longdistancevoter.org 

Published on April 15, 2012 at 12:00 pm