Alva Review-Courier -

Voters in the Town of Freedom and Freedom School District who want absentee ballots mailed to them for the Sept. 14 Special Municipal Election and Special School Election should apply now, County Election Board Secretary Sandra Koehn said today.

Absentee ballots are available to any registered voter, provided they are eligible to vote in the election requested. No excuse is needed to vote by absentee ballot.

The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7. Voters can submit a request using the OK Voter Portal at oklahoma.gov/elections/ovp. Request forms are also available at oklahoma.gov/elections and at the county election board office located at 427 Barnes Ave., Suite 2.

Koehn reminds voters to allow time for an absentee ballot to be received, completed, and returned by mail to the county election board. "With some exceptions, all absentee ballots must be notarized before being returned. Voters should give themselves plenty of time to make sure all steps have been followed and that the ballot is returned correctly in order to be counted," Koehn said.

Voters exempt from having an absentee ballot affidavit notarized include those who are physically incapacitated and those who care for physically incapacitated individuals that cannot be left alone. Those voters must have their absentee ballot affidavit witnessed by two people.

Military personnel and residents living overseas, along with their spouses and dependents are also eligible for certain allowances. Military personnel should contact voting service officers in their units for absentee application forms. Residents living overseas may obtain absentee voting applications from any United States military installation or United States Embassy or Consulate. Military personnel and overseas citizens who are already registered voters in Oklahoma may apply for absentee ballots using the OK Voter Portal at oklahoma.gov/elections/ ovp. Those who need to complete a new voter registration application should apply through the Federal Voting Assistance Program at FVAP.gov.

All completed absentee ballots must be in the hands of the county election board no later than 7 p.m. on election day.

The Woods County Election Board is located at 427 Barnes Ave., Suite 2, Alva, and is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. For questions, please contact the election board at 580-327-1452.