• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Democracy Chronicles

Towards better democracy everywhere.

  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy
You are here: Home / DC Authors / On Helping Loved Ones Request Absentee Ballots

On Helping Loved Ones Request Absentee Ballots

September 17, 2014 by Stephanie Singer Leave a Comment

FacebookLinkedInPinTweet

Helping Loved Ones Request Absentee Ballots Friends Meme

by DC author Stephanie Singer, Philadelphia City Commissioner

As I write this, my daughter is packing for college far away. Soon her room will be empty and quiet. Family dinner will be just me. It’s tough on us when people leave, even if we know that they’ll be back.

It’s tough on democracy too, when people are away from home and don’t vote. At home, even if we’re reminded to vote as late as Election Day itself, we can go to our neighborhood polling place. We might have seen an “I Voted Today” sticker, or a candidate’s poster, or a friend’s Facebook post, or heard about the election on the radio and still get to the polls before the 8pm cut-off time.

Request Absentee Ballots PennsylvaniaWhen people are away, it’s harder for them to vote. It takes time and forethought to request an absentee ballot by mail, receive it, vote it and return it. The voter has to start the process early, before most media outlets and political campaigns have started reminding people of the upcoming election.

Not voting hurts every group and community the voter is part of, which hurts the voter themselves. So help the people you love push for the issues they care about by reminding them to request absentee ballots. Follow up by reminding them to vote and return the ballot.

The time is now! It is not too early to request an absentee ballot for the November 4 election. Don’t let your loved ones wait too long. The deadline for returning a regular absentee ballot is the Friday before Election Day (October 31, 2014), but that’s just the last step in the process.

Any voter who expects to be away on November 4 can go now to the County Board of Elections to request, vote and return an absentee ballot all at once. In Philadelphia, this can be done in Room 142, City Hall, and it takes about 15 minutes. It’s a bit like early voting in other states, but only for people who genuinely believe that they will likely be absent from their county on Election Day for work or other duties. If plans change and the person is home on Election Day, that’s not a problem — they should just vote at the polls, in which case the absentee ballot just won’t be counted.

What if someone is in the hospital? In the military? Called away the day before Election Day? Physically unable to get to the polls? Detailed procedures are available at www.VotesPA.com and at the County Board of Elections (215-686-3943). Absentee ballot request forms are available there too.

While you can’t deliver your loved one’s ballot (unless they formally designate you as an agent), you can print out or pick up the ballot request form for them.

By the time this article is published, I will be urging my daughter to vote and return her absentee ballot. She might not enjoy my nagging, but she knows it’s just another way for me to tell her I love her.

Request Absentee Ballots PA
To register to vote in Philadelphia 2014

See Stephanie Singer at www.PhiladelphiaVotes.com or www.PAtransparency.org

FacebookLinkedInPinTweet

Filed Under: DC Authors Tagged With: Absentee and Mail Voting, Democracy Charity, Military Voting, Minority Voting Rights, Voter Access, Voter Registration, Voter Turnout

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

About Stephanie Singer

Stephanie Singer is a former City Commissioner of Philadelphia and worked to modernize the office, introducing improved hiring practices, encouraging digital distribution of public elections data, and promoting free and fair elections.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

democracy chronicles newsletter

american democracy around the web

  • “5th Circuit May Have Sidelined Supreme Court...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 3 hours ago
  • Federal Court Says Jeffrey Clark Cannot Remov...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 3 hours ago
  • Wisconsin: “Secret impeachment advisory panel...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 3 hours ago
  • “Poll: Majority of voters would support disqu...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 4 hours ago
  • Morocco expels French journalists Quentin Mül...
    Source: Committee to Protect Journalists Published on: 5 hours ago