Although the 2016 election is 42 days away, some voters will begin casting their ballots today as absentee voters.
“Based on what we saw in the presidential election four years ago, we expect to have 2,000 people to vote by absentee ballot,” said Lowndes County Circuit Clerk Teresa Barksdale.
Circuit clerks’ offices throughout the state will begin providing absentee ballots today and continue through Nov. 7, the eve of the election.
Sheryl Elmore, election deputy clerk in the Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk’s office, said she anticipates an even higher rate of absentee voting than usual.
“It’s always higher during a presidential election year,” Elmore said. “In a typical election year, we’ll have anywhere from 300 to 500 absentee voters. Four years ago, we had about 1,800 because of the presidential election. If anything, I believe there may be even more absentee voters this year. We’ve have a lot of inquiries, not only about absentee ballots but registration, too.”
Some registered voters are eligible to vote by absentee ballot because of age, health, work demands, temporary relocation for educational purposes or their affiliation with the U.S. Armed Forces.
Absentee voters can vote at the circuit clerk’s office or, in some cases, via mail, Barksdale said. Lowndes residents who wish to vote absentee by mail should contact the Barksdale’s office at 329-5900 to determine if they qualify. Oktibbeha residents should call 323-1356.
“Most of the absentee voting is done in our office,” Barksdale said. “People who plan to vote absentee can vote in our office from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. weekdays. We will also be open for absentee voting the two Saturdays before the election (Oct. 29 and Nov. 5) from 8 until noon.”
Those absentee voting days and hours apply to all counties.
About five percent of voters chose to vote by absentee ballot in Lowndes County four years ago, Barksdale said. Absentee votes accounted for about 7 percent of the votes cast in Oktibbeha County in 2012, Elmore estimated.
As of Friday, there were 39,559 registered voters in the Lowndes County. Barksdale expects that number will increase as the deadline for registering to vote approaches.
“We’ve already had a lot of people calling and coming by the office to ask about the election, so I expect the number of registered voters could get closer to 40,000,” she said.
Residents who wish to register to vote have until Oct. 8. They can register in their circuit clerk’s office during regular weekday hours, as well as from 8 a.m.-noon Oct. 8.
Elmore also expects a surge in registration prior to the deadline.
“Registration has been very high, especially among Mississippi State students,” Elmore said. “This year, there are a lot of registration drives happening on campus and I think we’ll see a pretty good surge from that.”
Elmore said MSU students make up about 25 percent of the absentee ballots cast in Oktibbeha County, which at last count a little more than 25,000 registered voters.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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