Voting absentee in Mississippi - A pain in the ass

[CaseAgainstFaith]

Today, I completed my absentee ballot.

First, I shuffled confusedly through the poorly typed directions that – if I hadn't received the same exact ones last year during state elections – I would have sworn were typed 15 minutes before absentee ballots were first distributed this year.

Then, I sorted through, trying to decide what could be filled out now and what I needed to save for signing in front of the notary. With no clear directions, I decided to play it safe and just fill everything out in front of the notary.

So I walked to the closest notary on campus, a very busy woman who works in our registrar's office, who's been working on the thousands of people who will be graduating in just two months. She looked at me with this frazzled look as I walked in and told her I had to have notarization for my absentee ballot.

We both read over the directions given, and I think we did everything right. Was I supposed to vote in front of her so she could make sure I was the one voting? I mean, she had to see my blank ballot, and then see me putting my completed ballot into the envelope. She ordered me away to the other side of her cubicle to fill out the ballot. Watching her impatience grow, I rushed through my ballot as fast as I could. Once I finally completed it and sealed and signed the envelope, I handed it over. Being a notary, she needed my identification, which is now a law but was not in place this year. Her seal hardly embossed the thick ballot envelope. I then gave her my application for ballot, which I needed for some reason even though I had my ballot right there, and I tried to decide if I needed to fill out the address part or if that would result in me receiving a second ballot or being convicted of voter fraud for trying to receive two ballots. I decided to put both my address and “Do not mail – already received ballot” on the line.

So I finally left the notary's office after taking quite a bit of her precious time and walked to the mail office. I was about to put the envelopes in the mail when I noticed that the application for absentee ballot envelope did not have a “postage paid” square like the official ballot envelope. Not seeing anything on the directions about this, I decided to call my county clerk just to make sure and the secretary told me yes, I did have to have postage for that envelope. Isn't all official election mail supposed to be free to mail? And even if it isn't, shouldn't that little .45 cent fee be covered with taxpayer money? Do you not want all of your citizens to vote? Not keeping postage on me at all times, I had to walk to the campus bookstore just to buy a single stamp, then back to the mail office to finally put the envelopes in the mail.

http://www.reddit.com/r/PoliticalDiscussion/comments/1234mv/i_am_from_mississippi_i_sent_in_my_absentee/

This is one persons account of just how much of a pain in the ass Mississippi makes it to vote absentee.   I don't see how this is really legal myself. 

[Material Defender]

Sounds more like dumb administrators, doesn't surprise me in that state.

Meanwhile in Kansas, you can Mail your Absentee ballot (Which you get online) and a form of ID (If your a first time voter) to this dude and that's it. Your done. He'll make sure your stuff gets to the right place.

[kefkaownsall]

I never got why absentee ballots etc needed postage.