Help! My Mother-in-law just recieved her Absentee Ballot today...

[mikelewis]

She is home-bound and requested a ballot weeks ago. It just arrived in the mail Today - 11-6-06. According to State Law, the ballot must be recieved at the BOE by 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. She is unable to go to her polling location and no one can take in her ballot for her so I assume that she HAS to show up to the polls to vote which she is unable to do. She lives in Parma, OH, a suburb of Cleveland... does anyone know how I can get her ballot to the BOE before 7:30 tomorrow? The mail will take 2 days to run and I don't know if they accept any other form of delivery other than standard mail. What are her options? (This is fucking insane)

[mtnester]

1. Call your local Dem office

tell them and they will send someone to get it.
Or STATE Dem office...they also need to know about the late ballot.

[mikelewis]

It says on the ballot that it can only be by recieved by mail...

...otherwise I would drive it there myself.

[mtnester]

6. BULLSHIT

the WHITE envelope can be dropped off...I did so this morning.

On edit - I am on your side...as long as it is SEALED, anyone can drop it off at the county BOE for her.

[Hosnon]

12. Same in Georgia...overnight it UPS or FEDEX. nt

[wicket]

4. EXCELLENT suggestions

:thumbsup:

[redqueen]

2. Post this in the OH forum, with a CLEVELAND HELP tag

I think Parma's near Cleveland, anyway...

Good luck!

[gkhouston]

3. you can hand-deliver it to the BOE office for her

according to this:

http://www.electionsonthe.net/oh/absentee.htm#Your%20absentee%20ballot%20must%20be%20received

[mikelewis]

8. The Ohio SOS site says it has to be delivered in person...

Once absentee ballots are available for voting, an absentee voter may receive and return the ballot in person at the county board of elections office, or receive and return the absentee ballot by U.S. Mail.
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/PublicAffairs/VoterInfoGuide.aspx?Section=16

[babylonsister]

9. Absentee ballots available for homebound people; doesn't make

sense they can only return the ballot in person if they're homebound. I'm with everyone else; call your local Dem office for guidance.

[gkhouston]

10. what about this bit?

"Additionally, you may include in your absentee ballot application a request that your county board of elections give your unmarked ballot to a designated relative – your spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, son, daughter, adopted parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece – who shall deliver the ballot to you in the hospital and return your voted ballot to the board office."

I doubt your mother-in-law included the request in her application since she didn't know it would take so long for the damned ballot to arrive, but surely something could be done about it now -- perhaps a notarized letter? Have you called the BOE to ask about the proper procedure?

[spuddonna]

5. Kick! n/t

[mrreowwr_kittty]

7. Can you take it straight to the elections office?

Also, here in AZ you can just drop off a ballot at the polls in a box they have set up for that. I did that for a school board election last year and no one checked me in. I could have been dropping off anyone's ballot.

[ellenfl]

14. me too.

last election, i delivered my ballot as well as my mother's ballot, to the box located inside the county office. no one 'carded' me.

of course, it may be different in ohio.

good luck!

ellen fl

[tandot]

11. Kick. n/t

[mikelewis]

13. I called 1-888-DEM-VOTE and theyare looking into it for me...

will update the answer when they call back. Thanks guys!!

[Strelnikov_]

15. ..