Letter to the Editor: Voting and Senior Citizens

By BRUCE FUNK Emery County Clerk/Auditor

Dear Editor,
Who is voting senior citizen ballots?
This question seems to come up almost every general election in the county. This letter is intended to clear up any confusion. There is a very positive effort on the part of individuals and family members to see that senior citizens and others who might not be able to get to the polling places are provided with an absent voter ballot application. That application is then returned to the county clerk’s office. The ballot is then mailed directly to the voter. The voter votes, seals and mails the ballot back to the clerk’s office. On election night a separate group of election judges verify signatures and then open the envelope and remove the ballot stub. The ballot is then placed in a ballot box. The ballot remains inside a secrecy envelope at all times. The ballots are delivered to the clerk’s office staff for machine counting. The envelopes with names and information are kept separately preserving the voters vote.
There is also a procedure set up to handle those wishing to vote who may reside in the Emery County Care and Rehabilitation Center and Turnquist Retreat. Our office sends applications directly to the administration at each facility with instructions to contact family members to come and assist those resident who would like to vote but need some assistance. The ballots are returned and handled in the same manner described above. The law does allow family members or someone of a voters choosing to assist them.