Absentee voting for the November elections began Wednesday but leaders of campus voter registration drives are trying to encourage students to vote in Orange County.
The absentee ballot process is a lengthy one that includes several opportunities for things to go awry" Durham County Board of Elections Geographer Joseph Fedrowitz said.
""You have to rely" first of all on the mail he said.
Things do get lost — domestically and certainly overseas. Sometimes the ballot is returned late through no fault of the person" he said.
Both the initial request for the absentee ballot and the delivery of the ballot itself have to be done by mail, Fedrowitz said.
And people don't always follow instructions either.
It's not just a matter of marking the ballot and mailing it back" Fedrowitz said.
The voter has to sign the ballot and have two witnesses sign it and put their addresses on it. Ten percent usually ignore that part" he said.
UNC Young Democrats is encouraging students to register to vote in Chapel Hill partially because it is more convenient, said Co-President George Drometer.
The process is so difficult — there's a lot of red tape"" he said.
However, for some, such as students studying abroad, voting via an absentee ballot is the only option.
We've already had many" many many requests from students who are studying abroad" Fedrowitz said.
At UNC, students receive instructions on absentee voting at their pre-departure orientation and receive a reminder during the summer, said Kathryn Goforth, associate director for advising at the UNC study abroad office.
The study abroad program Web site also has the information posted.
Nicole Short, a Meredith College student who is studying abroad in Italy this semester, said she requested an absentee ballot from Cumberland County, where her family lives.
Even though voting is difficult because she is out of the country, Short stated in an e-mail that she still wanted to participate in the voting process because the decisions being made will matter for her.
Generally" I would not consider myself a politically interested person but I definitely feel that I have become more aware since leaving the United States" she stated.
The Orange County Board of Elections has already received requests for 1,036 absentee ballots. Although this number is only about one-third of the 3,039 absentee ballots requested in 2004, the number is expected to increase.
The closer the election gets" the more we get in" said Tracy Reams, director of the Orange County Board of Elections.
All requests for absentee ballots must be received by Oct. 28, and completed ballots are due Nov. 3.
How to vote absentee in N.C.
Submit a handwritten request to your respective county by the last Tuesday before the election.
Include your name, residential and mailing addresses, date of birth and signature.
The county must receive your ballot by 5 p.m. on the day of the election for it to be counted.
Oct. 28: Last day to request a mail-in absentee ballot.
Nov 3: Mailed absentee ballots must be submitted by 5 p.m. to county Boards of Elections.
Visit the N.C. Board of Elections Web site for more information, and visit your home county's Web site to find the county Board of Elections mailing address.
www.sboe.state.nc.us/
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
