Press staff reports
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, for the Annual School Runoff, Tahlequah Municipal General Runoff, Tahlequah Special and Fort Gibson Municipal General Elections.
Connie Parnell, secretary of the Cherokee County Election Board, is offering voters tips.
A valid marking – a filled-in arrow – is shown on posters at the polling place and inside voting booths. If a voter makes a mistake, Parnell said he should not try to correct it; instead, he should return the spoiled ballot to precinct officials, who will destroy it and issue a new ballot.
Parnell urged voters to take their identification cards to the polls.
“Your card can help officials find your name in the registry and it may also help them resolve the problem if you are not listed in the registry,” she said.
Voters whose names are not in the registry or a voter who disagrees with information there may need to cast a provisional ballot. The ballot is sealed in an envelope and counted after election day if the voter’s information can be verified.
Parnell said voters who want to get through the line quickly should vote at mid-morning or mid-afternoon, because those usually are the two slowest periods.
“Anyone who is eligible and in line at the polling place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday will be entitled to vote,” she said.
Those who want to vote by mail absentee ballots have missed the application deadline, but they aren’t out of luck. They can do so at the county election board office Friday, April 3, or Monday, April 6. A two-member, bipartisan absentee voting board will be on duty from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to assist.
“In-person absentee voters fill out an application form. They are not required to give a reason,” Parnell said. “They are required to swear they have not voted a regular mail absentee ballot and that they will not vote at their polling places on Election Day.”
The absentee voting board verifies a voter’s registration information, and then issues ballots. The voter marks the ballots in a booth and then puts them in the voting device.
Registered voters who become physically incapacitated after 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 31 won’t have to miss the election. Parnell said state law permits these voters to cast ballots on an emergency basis.
“Physical incapacitation” includes a variety of conditions – injury, illness, childbirth – that prevent someone from voting in person.
For more information contact the election board, 914 S. College Ave., or call 456-2261.
