I wanted to share my experience here in Kansas City, Missouri in the August primary. I work in a youth residential facility which has been in lock down since March. The only chance the kids have had of getting COVID-19 is if staff bring it in, so I have been very careful. I also live with my older sister who is at high risk if she would contract COVID-19. So I applied for Mail-In ballot for me and an absentee ballot for her. The ability to apply for a Mail-in ballot by any registered voter is new for this election. The Absentee ballots have always been available for certain reasons and this year one of those is over 65 or high risk voters. The Mail-in ballot for me is required to be notarized while the absentee ballot for my sister is not. The other difference was that I was required to send in a copy of her drivers license for hers not mine. I did not send in the copy of her driver license so I got my mail-in ballot but she did not. I decided not fill out and mail in my ballot since I was going to have to take my sister to vote anyway.
Right now in social media and news reports there is a big (for lack of a better word I will call it) debate over the security of mail-in voting. There seems to be a big concern that people will be able to vote twice. That is why I wanted to share this with you.
On August 4th before we went to vote I looked over the instructions that came with my mail-ballot carefully. I then took it with me to my polling place. I had not filled it out. When I checked-in the poll person immediately said – “It shows you received a Mail-in ballot”. I pulled it out and gave it to her while explaining what had happened. She called over an election official who validated the number on my mail-in ballot with the system, verified it had not been filled out and marked it VOID. I was then able to proceed to vote in person.
This time around we are going to be mailing in our ballots. My experience has alleviated any concerns about anyone getting to vote twice in Kansas City, because of mail-in ballots. We each get one vote and it counts.
The Kansas City Election Board is doing an excellent job of making sure that all voters get to vote safely. They are having voter registration drives, setting up new polling places, making sure all the deadline dates are clearly stated, all polling places allow for social distancing and have all supplies needed to keep you safe while voting. You can get all the information you need at https://www.kceb.org/. If you have older voters in your family that may not use a computer or use them on a limited basis make sure they know what their options are this year.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS VOTE!!. DO NOT LET FEAR OR HATE KEEP YOU FROM VOTING!! A DEMOCRACY REQUIRES VOTERS TO BE VOTING. YOUR VOTE DOES COUNT!!!!
VOTE FOR THE CHILDREN!
BE FOR KIDS 