Submitted by sachmogoat t3_yp4e8f in Pennsylvania

Student family member “followed the process” and applied for an absentee in early October at her remote address. She got a response acknowledging her request and saying they’d send the ballot. Never got it. She called the county office, not helpful. Whats the right way to insure this denial is handled? Its Northampton county, a very critical district. Is there anything i can do being local?

19

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CaseyCahoots t1_ivhbxn5 wrote

Is she going to be out of the county or just away from her voting district? A provisional ballot anywhere in the same County would fully count votes for Governor and Senator.

16

orangesfwr t1_ivibf9y wrote

I'm sorry but if the voter is a "plane ride away" there is nothing you can do at this point. It is way too late to be trying to resolve this. The time to register to request an absentee or mail-in ballot was sometime prior to October 1st. The time to question why you hadn't recieved it yet was sometime before Oct 14th. The time to make plans to return home and vote "on demand" at the Board of Elections was before Nov 2nd.

It is Nov 7th. Polls close less than 24 hours from now. Unless the voter can hop on a plane, the voter is not going to be able to vote.

Please plan much further ahead next time. This is why the messaging for voting starts over the summer.

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opskito t1_ivha50z wrote

The county said they sent it but she’d didn’t receive it or … ? There’s such a thing as an emergency absentee ballot, but they’re intended to be used if you didn’t know you were going to be absent prior to the deadline for requesting a regular one.

There’s nothing new under the sun, so hopefully someone will know what to do. I hope she can get this resolved, but I am skeptical, given the timeframe. 🤞 😔

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Environmental_Act82 t1_ivi2mnq wrote

Yea the night before Election Day probably wasn’t the best time to ask the question lol

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DesignSilver1274 t1_ivhc0wz wrote

If you have requested an absentee ballot but have not yet received one, contact your local election authority to confirm that they received your absentee ballot application and verify there were no errors in processing.
Some states will allow you to track your absentee ballot online. At vote.org,
there are links for each state’s ‘Election Center’ at the bottom of the
page. On your state’s page, under ‘Offsite Links’, there will be a link
to an ‘Absentee Ballot Tracker Tool’ if your state offers one. If not,
look up the contact information for your local election authority and contact them directly via phone or email.
If you run into trouble (e.g. they say they have mailed you a ballot
but you have not received it), they should be able to help you identify a
variety of alternative solutions, which will vary by state.

https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/involvement-student-life/student-services/voter-registration-election-information/facts-about

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DesignSilver1274 t1_ivhbla3 wrote

Northampton County residents can register to vote, apply for a ballot,
and vote all in the same trip to the election's office - HOWEVER, this
process can take an hour or more. It is best to register to vote online
before coming to vote in person.

Not much info online for your particular situation. The student can vote on campus.

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sachmogoat OP t1_ivhctyd wrote

Not possible, the voter is a plane ride away.

5

trexeric t1_ivhosf2 wrote

I'm in a similar spot - overseas at the moment, voting district in Erie (also a crucial county), ordered the ballot in early October and just got it last week, which was obviously too late for it to get from Iceland back to the elections office in Erie in time. As far as I know, there's nothing you can do about it except grumble. Maybe find a friend who wasn't planning on voting and get them to vote as a favor to you. That's all I can think of.

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artificialavocado t1_ividf02 wrote

They really need to fix this. I just read an article that there are over 3 million Americans living and working overseas and still paying taxes to America and less than 10% actually get their ballots in because the process is so difficult.

1

wh0_RU t1_ivhi2xf wrote

Go to your local county elections office and they'll cancel the one that didn't arrive and give you a new one. I think you may be able to do it also at the polling site but not sure about it

1

guitair t1_ivhk9f5 wrote

Go to your polling place and ask for a provisional ballot. From a judge of election

1

ThankMrBernke t1_ivhpwwm wrote

Call the campaign/party of the person you plan to vote for and ask for help?

1

ronreadingpa t1_ivix1w0 wrote

The ballot may have been mailed to the address listed on her voter registration. Or if she supplied a different address, USPS may have returned it back to the county.

1st Class Mail is traceable to some extent (intelligent mail barcode) so the county should know whether it was likely delivered or returned. Unfortunately, front-line staffers may not have access to such information.

As many others mention, too late now unless she can travel back to vote in person. Can't fault the process either, since mail delivery isn't guaranteed, and she had ample time to make other arrangements.

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Reynard1981 t1_ivi08y2 wrote

It’s quite simple, vote in person as everyone should.

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artificialavocado t1_ivid5pe wrote

Dude don’t listen to the propaganda there is absolutely nothing wrong with voting by mail. There are several states, Oregon and Hawaii for example, that are ONLY vote by mail and have been for decades and there have never been any issues. The only “problem” came recently with Trump because republicans know mail voting slightly favors democrats.

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Reynard1981 t1_iviihdp wrote

“There’s nothing wrong with mail in voting”? Before mass mail in voting that started in 2020, we never went past the night of Election Day to count votes. Why? Because everyone voted in person and it never took days to count votes. No, the reason why the majority of the country is against it is because it makes it easier to create a fraudulent election, such as the election of 2020.

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Woodyee101 t1_ivhrbpl wrote

If you’re a dem, they’ll count you

−19

31November t1_ivjl4q7 wrote

And if you’re republican snowflake, you can complain to the court 60 times about it and lose every time ❤️

2