DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. — With the presidential election less than three months away, Mississippians are confused about how to properly get an absentee ballot.
People are encouraged to vote, but in Mississippi, it seems like they are discouraging people to vote via an absentee ballot. For some people in the Magnolia State, they do not know the proper protocols to obtain an absentee ballot.
Dale Thompson, the DeSoto County Clerk, said voting absentee in Mississippi can be complicated.
“It’s causing extra work and extra preparation,” Thompson said. “They have to call us to get the requests, and then we mail out the application to them. That application has to be sent out, signed, and ah if it requires there has to be witness and notary on the application.”
Thompson said back in 2016, people were confused, and things became hectic in the lines, as people waited to vote. She said people waited very long periods. Now with a contentious election coming up in a few months, amid a pandemic, Thompson said she is trying to ensure they are prepared for the massive crowds.
“I’m hiring additional employees to help me with the voting,” Thompson said. “We’re doing signage for 6 feet apart, ‘please wait here’. Again, you can’t require them to wear a mask. We’re suggesting they wear a mask. All of my employees will wear a mask. We’ll be behind the Plexiglas.”
For Mississippians who want to vote absentee, that does not necessarily mean they can skip the lines. An absentee ballot in Mississippi simply means a person will be absent on Election Day.
Additionally, just about everyone that is voting absentee in Mississippi must go to the courthouse to cast their ballot, unless they are disabled or have the coronavirus.
“Due to COVID 19, voters must be under the care of physician-ordered quarantine or a dependent under quarantine due to COVID,” Thompson said. “We issue an application, they sign it. It has to be notarized. They’re given a ballot. They go to the stands or the voting places to vote. They fill out their ballot information, put it inside an envelope, seal it, sign across the seal flap, and then they have to turn around and take it back to the clerk.”
The clerk is expecting about 11,000 absentee ballots, which is almost twice as many as 2016.
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Absentee voters can vote every day, starting on Sept. 21. to Oct 31. The timeframe is Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.to 5 p.m. and Saturday’s from 8 a.m. until Noon.
