Many election postcards for absentee ballots not signed

The GOP recently mailed to Republican voters postcards with a message from Gov. Sonny Perdue that they could mail to their local election board offices to request absentee ballots.

But hundreds of voters in Barrow County and thousands across Georgia did not sign their postcards before mailing them to their local boards of election.

Barrow County Elections Supervisor Kristi Royston says her office rejected hundreds of absentee ballot requests because of missing signatures.

“On average, half of the postcards that we received were not signed,” Royston said. ”We rejected several hundred of the postcards because they weren’t signed.”

The voter confusion likely occurred because the signature line on the postcard was not directly below the area identifying the voter. Instead, it was below an area for an alternative address where the voter could ask for the ballot to be sent.

Royston’s staff sent new applications for absentee ballots to all local voters who submitted unsigned postcards.

With the runoff one week away – and the Thanksgiving holiday interrupting this week’s mail service – anyone wanting to vote by absentee ballot will have to act quickly.

The Board of Elections and Registration Office must receive all applications for absentee ballots by Wednesday, Nov. 26, and the marked ballots must arrive at the office by Dec. 2.