Bay Area counties accepting absentee ballots

By Lara Moscrip, Bay City News Service

October 10, 2006

All eligible California voters can apply for absentee ballots starting today by either writing or faxing in a request to their county elections office before the Oct. 31 deadline.

Voters can also fill out and mail in the absentee voter application printed on their sample ballot, which is mailed to voters prior to the election.

Requests for an absentee ballot for the Nov. 7 election must be in writing and include the voter's name, residence address, address to which the ballot will be mailed and the voter's signature. Faxes including this information are acceptable, but law prohibits telephone requests, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

Voters must return their completed ballots to their local registrar of voters or any polling place no later than the close of polls on Nov. 7.

Registered voters can also cast an absentee ballot in person at their local elections office.

Absentee ballot application forms are available in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean, according to the Secretary of State's Web site.

Eligible voters can also download an absentee ballot application from the Secretary of State's Web site at http://www.ss.ca.gov and return it to their local county elections office.

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