Deadline to Request Absentee Ballot For Beckham County Elections Approaches

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March 15, 2021

By News Director Jared Atha

Voters in Beckham County who want absentee ballots mailed to them for the April 6, Erick and Hammon School District Board of Education General Elections and also Cities of Elk City, Erick and Sayre City Council Member Elections should apply now.

In a press release, Beckham County Election Board Secretary Sharron Manning says absentee ballots are available to any registered voter, provided they are eligible to vote in the election they request. Manning said that no excuse is needed to vote by absentee ballot.

Manning says the deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 30th. Voters can submit a request using the OK Voter Portal, or by requesting forms online at oklahoma.gov/elections and at the County Election Board office located at 306 E. Main Street in Sayre.

Manning reminds voters to allow time for an absentee ballot to be received, completed and returned by mail to the County Election Board. She says, with some exceptions, all absentee ballots must be notarized before being returned.

Voters exempt from having a ballot notarized include those who are physically incapacitated, those who care for physically incapacitated individuals that cannot be left alone, and voters confined to nursing homes. Those voters may opt to have their ballot witnessed by two people.

Positions voters in Beckham County will be deciding on include office number one on the Hammon School Board. Aubrey Christian and Clay Ivey are running for that seat. Colby Holland and Justin Miller are running for the office number one seat on the Erick School Board. The office number three seat on the Erick School Board will also be up for grabs. Those running for that position include Michelle Cox and Robert Lee Williams.

Three city council seats will be up for grabs in three Beckham County communities including the ward number two position in Sayre. Sonya Blagg and Cheryl McLean are squaring off for that seat. In Erick, Mark T. Byrne and David Brinkley will square off for the ward number two seat, and in Elk City Rocky Andresen and Brad Gilbert will be running for the ward three commissioner position.

Manning says all completed absentee ballots must be in the hands of the County Election Board no later than 7 p.m. on April 6 – Election Day.