Deadline for Receiving Absentee Ballots

The deadline for you to receive absentee ballots by mail is 12:00 noon, Thursday, April 14.  Some of the outer envelopes containing absentee ballots that you receive between now and then may have a postmark indicating when it was mailed, but the fact of the matter is that the majority will have no postmark.

If you receive an absentee ballot between now and the April 14 deadline that has a postmark indicating that it was mailed after 8:00 p.m. on April 4 (Election Day):

  • the outer envelope must not be opened, and
  • the certificate envelope containing the ballot must not be deposited into the absentee ballot box.

These ballots are to be treated as rejected ballots and placed in the E-138A Envelope for Spoiled or Declined Ballot Papers, Unopened Certificate Envelopes and Unopened Outer Envelopes.

If you receive an absentee ballot between now and April 14 that has no postmark indicating when it was mailed, you should open the outer envelope, and

  • if you are satisfied that the certificate envelope was completed by the voter who applied for it, you will deposit the outer envelope into the absentee ballot box, or
  • if you are not satisfied that the certificate envelope was completed by the voter who applied for it, you should not deposit it into the absentee ballot box, but treat it as a rejected ballot and place it into the E-138 envelope.

Absentee ballots will be counted by the returning officer at the final count on Saturday April 16.