Absentee Voting

 

Obtaining an Application for an Absentee Ballot   

Applications for absentee ballots may be obtained from the Town Clerk or the Office of the Secretary of State. Applications may be submitted in person, by mail or by fax. The voter, or a "family member, (father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, grandparent, grandchild, a spouse or person residing in the same household, in-laws, adopting parent or adopted child, stepparent or stepchild, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew), may submit an application. All applications must be signed under the pains and penalties of perjury by the voter, or a family member, before a ballot will be made available.

In a primary election, a voter who is not registered in a political party must specify the ballot of the party of choice in the application. You will not become registered in a political party because of your participation in a state primary. In the March presidential primary, however, a voter temporarily becomes a member of the party for which a ballot is chosen. While your registration status reverts automatically to unenrolled (independent), your temporary enrollment in the party may affect your ability to run as a party candidate in the near future.

Applications for absentee ballots must be received by the Town Clerk before 12:00 noon the day before an election. (A voter who is admitted to a health care facility after noon of the fifth day before an election may apply for a ballot up until the close of the polls and may request to have the ballot delivered.) Absentee ballots generally are available three weeks before an election.

If the voter submits the application in person, he may obtain the ballot (call first to see if it is available) and vote over-the-counter. If the ballot is not available, it will be sent to the voter when available. When the application is submitted in person by a family member, the ballot only will be sent by mail to the voter. In all other cases, the ballot is sent by mail.

A list of all voters who obtained absentee ballots is sent to the poll locations to prevent an absentee voter from voting a second time.

Permanently Disabled Voters  

A voter who is permanently disabled need not submit a request for an absentee ballot every election. If such a voter submits a note from a registered physician indicating that he is disabled permanently, the Town Clerk will send an application for an absentee ballot twenty-eight days before every election. The application will be as complete as the Town Clerk can make it, and the voter in most cases only will have to sign the application and return it.

Upon the Town Clerk' s receipt of the signed application, the voter will be sent an absentee ballot.

 

Specially Qualified Voters  

In addition to registered Voters, certain "specially qualified voters' may vote by absentee ballot. A "specially qualified voter" is a person who is a Massachusetts citizen, living outside of the United States, who is at least eighteen years old and whose last residence in the United States was Massachusetts. You also may be a "specially qualified voter" if you are otherwise eligible to be a registered voter and your present domicile (a place where you live and plan to remain) is Massachusetts and you are: out of town because you are in the active service of the armed forces or merchant marine of the United States, or a spouse or dependent of such person; absent from the Commonwealth; or confined in a correctional facility or jail.

When the Name of an Applicant Does Not Appear on the Voters List  

In the event that the Town clerk cannot find the .name of a voter requesting an absentee ballot, the voter must be sent a provisional ballot with a letter explaining the reason. The provisional ballot allows you to cast your votes. Provisional ballots will not be counted in the tally of votes unless any race is close enough that the number of provisional ballots could affect the outcome. In such cases, the Registrars of Voters will, within 10 days, review each of the provisional ballots individually to determine which should be counted.  Person submitting provisional ballots may call after 10 days and inquire whether their vote was counted.

Return of Ballots  

If the voter submits the application in person, he may obtain the ballot (call first to see if it is available) and vote over-the-counter. Ballots may be returned by mail or in person by the voter or a family member. All ballots must be signed by the voter, or if the voter is unable to sign, an assisting person.

In general, absentee ballots must be received before the polls close to be counted. However, absentee ballots for the state general election completed outside the United States will be counted if received by 5:00 p.m. on the tenth day following the election. This exception does not apply to Townsend Town elections or state primaries. if the Town Clerk teams that an absentee voter has died before the election, his votes will not be counted.