Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – June 27, 2024 – Election Day is Tuesday, November 5 this year. If you won’t be available to vote in person on Election Day, you may qualify to vote via absentee ballot.
To vote with an absentee ballot you must meet at least one of these criteria according to the Secretary of State’s website:
– You will be unavoidably absent from your polling site on election day
– You will be unable to attend your polling site on election day due to illness or physical disability
– You are a member of the Uniformed Services, merchant marines or the spouse or a dependent family member and are away from your polling location due to the member’s active-duty status
– A U.S. citizen whose residence is in Arkansas but is temporarily living outside the territorial limits of the United States.
If you fit at least one of those criteria, you can begin your application now for an absentee ballot.
Be sure to put your county clerk’s address in the “To County Clerk” section of the application.
Depending on how the application is going to be submitted, there are different deadlines for the submission form:
– In Person: by close of business the Friday BEFORE the election (November 1, 2024 by 5 pm)
– By Designated Bearer or Administrator: by close of business the Friday BEFORE the election (November 1, 2024 by 5 pm)
– By Mail or by Electronic Means: by 7 days before the election (October 29, 2024)
– By Authorized Agent: by 1:30 p.m. ON election day (November 5, 2024)
- The authorized agent must file with the County Clerk an affidavit from the administrative head of a hospital or nursing home located in this state verifying that the applicant is a patient of the hospital or long-term care or residential care facility licensed by the state and is thereby unable to vote on the election day at their regular polling site.
You can opt to pick up your ballot, have your ballot picked up by a designated bearer or have your ballot mailed to you. If you use a designated bearer, they must pick up the ballot no earlier than 15 days before a referential primary election, general election, school election or special election and no earlier than 7 days before a runoff election.
Before submitting your voted ballot, make sure you have done the following:
– Use blue or black ink to fill out your ballot
– Include a copy of your state id, both the front and back
– Filled out each part of the ballot
– And if mailing your ballot, make sure you have enough stamps (typically around three stamps).
It is important to note that voted ballots CAN NOT be faxed or emailed and need to be delivered to your county clerk by a certain time:
– In Person: by close of business the Friday BEFORE the election (November 1, 2024 by 5 pm)
– By Designated Bearer: by close of business the Friday BEFORE the election (November 1, 2024 by 5 pm)
– By Mail: received at the county clerk’s office by 7:30 p.m. ON election day (November 5, 2024)
– By Authorized Agent: by 7:30 p.m. ON election day (November 5, 2024)
