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Ballots will go out next week
HARTINGTON – The Cedar County Clerk’s Office has been fielding an increasing number of calls from voters and getting ballots ready for mail as the general election nears.
Election Commissioner and County Clerk Jessica Schmit attributes some of the rise in interest to National Voter Registration Day observed Sept. 17.
She doesn’t mind answering questions. After all, any time residents want to participate in the election process is a good thing, Schmit said.
Mostly, Schmit and clerk’s office staff have been verifying individuals are registered to vote and that their correct address is on file.
“If they’ve moved, they’re going to have to update their address with us to get their ballot,” she said.
Cedar County’s elections are handled entirely by mail with general election ballots sent out Oct. 16. Voters should have them in their mailbox later that week, Schmit said.
Since ballot envelopes are smaller this year, they can be processed by machine at the Omaha postal processing facility and come back sorted and ready to deliver. But that might take longer.
“It’s sorted in order for them and easier for them (local postal employees),” Schmit said. “But it might take an extra day.”
As of last week, Schmit’s office had printed 5,573 ballot address labels. That number will change slightly by the time they are officially mailed as the office is notified of deaths or new voters register.
Voters can register until Oct. 25. If a voter registers after ballots are mailed, he or she can pick up their ballot at the clerk’s office or request one be mailed. The clerk’s office can mail ballots until Oct. 25 which is also the deadline to register to vote.
Voters can return their ballots by mail, or drop it off at the clerk’s office or place it in a drop box located near the sheriff’s office entrance on the north side of the courthouse. All ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5. Schmit suggests those wanting to return their ballots by mail to mail it by Saturday, Nov. 2.
The county is only charged postage for the ballots actually returned by mail so returning the ballot to the courthouse could save taxpayers money.
“And you know your ballot is getting here then if that is a concern for some people,” Schmit said.
Schmit estimates Cedar County voter turnout to be as high as 75 percent with the all-mail election bolstering participation.
“I don’t know how much easier we can make it,” she said. “You don’t even have to put postage on it.”
She doesn’t anticipate any significant issues with Voter ID which was new in the primary.
To comply with the new Voter ID law, voters need to write their driver’s license number or state ID number on the ballot return envelope or enclose a photocopy of an acceptable form of ID.
Schmit also wants to encourage voters to make informed decisions. One of the special issues on the ballot will be allowing countywide keno, however, the ballot language refers to it only as a lottery, she said.
“I have to print it exactly as it is presented to me and all it says is lottery so I just want people to know what it is,” she said.
EMR Ventures, doing business as the Backyard Barbecue near St. Helena, made the request to add keno to their business. With no municipality jurisdiction, the request elevated it to a countywide issue and prompted it to be a ballot issue.
There are also a number of statewide referendums related to abortion that could be confusing to some voters, Schmit said.
All of the county’s public libraries have a copy of a Secretary of State informational pamphlet on the initiatives and referendum measures appearing on this year’s general election ballot.
