Berks County Expects Absentee Ballots to Double from 2000

[JPZenger]

www.readingeagle.com Sept. 16, 2004

"...up to 10,000 county citizens may vote this year without going to the polls...The office has received about 2,000 absentee-ballot applications so far from voters unable to make it to the polls Nov. 2, Bellman said. Bellman estimated that as many as 10,000 absentee-ballot applications would be processed this fall in Berks.

By comparison, Bellman said about 5,300 absentee ballots were cast in Berks in the 2000 presidential election...Counties will begin distributing absentee ballots to qualified applicants on Oct. 19. Completed ballots must be returned by Oct. 29...

The Bush campaign started identifying potential absentee voters in the spring, said Guy Ciarrocchi, Pennsylvania executive director for Bush-Cheney ’04. And about 1 million Republicans received an absentee-ballot application in the mail last month, Ciarrocchi said..."