Voter registration deadline nearing

The deadlines for absentee voting by mail are approaching, including Indiana’s.

By Oct. 27, anyone wishing to vote absentee in Indiana must have mailed a request for a ballot to their county clerk’s office.

Absentee voting is an option for people to vote early, either by mail or in person, if they can’t vote in their home county the day of the election. Students use this type of voting often to vote through the mail in their home county if they don’t want to register in Monroe County.

While anyone is eligible, they must have a reasonable excuse, said Rachel McCarty, absentee supervisor for Monroe County.

She said college students who live in Bloomington qualify to vote absentee by mail in other counties, but not Monroe. She said this is common for students who want to vote in their home counties because they might be more familiar with those races.

Out-of-county students wishing to vote absentee can download an absentee application from the Secretary of State Web site and send it in before its deadline. They will then receive a ballot to fill out and mail in, she said.

Students can also vote absentee in person – also known as early voting – which can start any time after Oct. 6 until Nov. 3 in Indiana.

If students vote in absentee person, they will fill out an application and a ballot at the same time. They can vote early at the Curry Building, 290 W 7th St., or one of the satellite locations yet to be announced on campus.

To vote early, students must already be registered and will need a valid picture identification, such as an Indiana driver’s license or IU school ID.

Students already registered who want to vote in Monroe County simply have to re-register here with their new address, McCarty said.

“It’s been quite a popular thing,” she said. “I would ask that if students do register that they cancel their registration here.”

About 2,200 people in the county have requested absentee ballots by mail so far, which is about average at this point, McCarty said.