ABSENTEE VOTING BEGINS, MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012

October 8, 2012

  10/09/12 Absentee voting began on Monday for registered voters.  There are three methods of Absentee Voting.

You may vote in person in the Marshall County Clerk’s Office at 211 West Madison Street, Plymouth from 8:00AM to 11:30AM and 12:30PM to 4:00PM for the upcoming General Election on November 6, 2012.  The office will also be open Saturday, October 27^th and Saturday, November 3^rd from 8:00AM to 3:00PM.

You can also vote absentee by mail if you meet the qualifications listed below:

• You must have a specific, reasonable expectation that you will be absent from your county of residence on Election Day during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open (6:00AM to 6:00PM);
• You will be a Precinct Official;
• You will be confined on Election Day due to illness or injury during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open;
• You are a voter with disabilities;
• You are 65 years of age or older;
• You are a caretaker of an individual(s)  confined to a private residence due to illness or injury and prevented from voting during the entire 12 hours      that the polls are open;
• You are scheduled to work for the entire 12 hours that the polls are open;
• You are prevented from voting due to observing a religious discipline or holiday during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open;
• You are participating in the Attorney General’s address confidentiality program;
• You are a member of the military or a public safety officer.

The final way to vote absentee is with the Travel Board.  Travel Board voting will begin on Thursday, October 25.  To vote by Travel Board you must meet the following qualifications:

• You expect to be confined due to illness or injury;
• You expect to be caring for a confined person at a private residence; or
• You are a voter with disabilities who believes the voter’s polling place is not      accessible.

If you meet the qualifications and wish to vote by Mail or Travel Board, please call the Marshall County Clerk’s Office at 935-8713 to make arrangements.

Julie Fox, Marshall County Clerk, wants to remind voters of the Voter ID law, which went into effect in 2006, requiring voters to present their photo ID before casting a ballot.  If you are voting in person at the polls, or voting an absentee ballot at the Marshall County Clerk’s Office, you will be asked to present proof of identification before you are allowed to vote.  The law specifies that the ID must:

• Display the voter’s photo;
• Display the voter’s name on the ID, and it must conform with the name on the voter registration record (Conform does not mean identical);
• Contain an expiration date and either still be current or have expired sometime after November 2, 2010, (the last      General Election day); and
• Must be issued by the State ofIndianaor the US      Government.

In most cases, an Indiana Driver’s License, Indiana photo ID card, U.S. Passport, or Military ID is sufficient.

If you do not already have a valid photo ID, you may obtain an Indianaphoto ID card free of charge for voting purposes ONLYfrom any Bureau of Motor Vehicles branch that issues driver’s licenses and ID cards.  For more information, please contact the BMV at (317) 233-6000 or visit the website at http://www.bmv.in.gov.

The Election Board would like to remind you that if you are not registered to vote for the      November 6, 2012 General Election, October 9, 2012 is the deadline for registering and absentee voting ends November 5, 2012 at noon.