HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Absentee Ballot Office at the Madison County Courthouse is now open for voters. Officials expect an extremely high amount of requests for the November Election and they say they've been working with applications sent since January.
"It was really wonderful, the line was not too long," says League of Women Voters of the Tennessee Valley Voter Services Chair, Kathy Jones. Jones voted Wednesday in person and said the process went smoothly.
The 100 Black Men Greater Huntsville Chapter President Charles Hyder,Jr. believes so far so good also.
"I wanted to come here and witness myself what was going on, and attendance...People were lining up. It was a good number of people in there. Hopefully more people come out and take advantage of this opportunity and do the absentee balloting," says Hyder.
Some things to keep in mind; absentee ballot voters can apply in person, receive and return the ballot, and hand-deliver a completed and sealed ballot.
'Vote Gone Viral' organizer and United Women of Color Executive Director, Angela Curry, says voters can also receive assistance.
"Say for instance, someone is suffering. They don't see well or they don't read well and they need someone to read the ballot to them; we can take someone with us for assistance in that manner. We just can't have anyone mark the ballot for us," added Curry.
You also need to bring a valid form of I.D. If you want to mail in your absentee ballot application' you can just download it online and mail it in with a copy of your I.D.
Jones says people who request and return absentee ballots by mail need to fill out the ballot completely. "Some of the common problems that we see is people just aren't marking - they're not signing the forms. They're not getting the witnesses. They may not put the address or the county."
The courthouse will be open each business day from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m on the first floor. The deadline to request a ballot or vote at the Absentee Ballot Office in-person is October 29th.
If you choose to avoid contact altogether, you may request and receive your absentee ballot via mail. For more information, click here.