The daily schedule of a professional driver presents many challenges. Prioritizing what gets done each day is a recipe for success.
Daily commitments should not, however, be used as an excuse to skip voting and effectively mute your voice on Election Day.
You can still make your voice heard back home on Nov. 4 and help set the course on issues at all levels of government.
Every state allows advance voting. The setup is well-suited for professional drivers. Some states permit mail-in ballots, commonly referred to as absentee ballots. Other states permit voting in person before Election Day. This is known as early voting. Some states even conduct certain, if not all, elections by mail. Contact your local elections office or secretary of state’s office for details.
Absentee voting
There are 28 states that offer “no-excuse” absentee voting. In these states, you do not have to give a reason for wanting to cast an absentee ballot. Other states either allow permanent no-excuse absentee voting or allow voters to cast absentee ballots under a limited set of circumstances.
Absentee ballots – or even permanent absentee ballots – can be requested by contacting a county clerk, county auditor, county registrar or supervisor of elections or the board of elections.
Early in-person voting
Some type of early voting is available in 47 states. The option permits voters simply to decide to vote early.
No-excuse early voting differs from absentee voting. Voters may visit an election official’s office – or in some states, other satellite voting locations – and cast ballots in person.
The time period for early voting varies by state. The average starting time is 20 days before Election Day.
States that do not offer early voting are Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire. These states do, however, offer absentee voting.
Permanent absentee ballots
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 20 states make permanent absentee ballots available for at least certain voters.
Nine states make permanent absentee ballots available for all voters: Arizona, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and Virginia.
Another 11 states offer permanent absentee ballots for a limited number of voters. These states are Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Additionally, Pennsylvania sends absentee/mail ballot applications to any voter at the beginning of each year. Alaska permits applications for permanent absentee ballots to be mailed to voters who live in remote areas.
Absentee ballot request deadlines
Deadlines to request an absentee ballot range from early October to the day before the election.
There are 23 states with deadlines at least seven days before Election Day. Another 19 states have deadlines less than a week before the election.
Elections by mail
Eight states run elections entirely by mail: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington. This distinction means voters do not need to request a ballot but rather receive one automatically.
Another 13 states permit certain small elections to be conducted by mail. LL
More Land Line coverage of Election news is available.
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