Whether voters choose to vote by absentee this general election because of the COVID-19 pandemic or for any other reason, the Guthrie County Auditor’s Office has some advice on how those voters make sure their ballot is counted.

The Auditor’s Office has been receiving absentee ballot requests since early July, and while the staff can contact voters by mail or phone to correct any mistakes on their form, an absentee ballot could be rejected for a written mistake. County Auditor Dani Fink gives her biggest recommendation to those wanting to avoid a rejected ballot, “On the return envelope, the envelope that you seal your ballot back into and send back into us, there’s an affidavit box that you have to sign and it’s a yellow rectangle where the signature line is, sign in that yellow rectangle. That is the best piece of advice I can give, that is the most missed piece that we see, even people in person.”

Fink explains that even those who vote via absentee at her office sometimes forget to sign that yellow box on the envelope before they drop it in the ballot box. Fink says some voters may be afraid that if they sign the envelope that the Absentee Board will know who they voted for, but she assures that the bipartisan group of people doesn’t have time to peek at that information as it is a quick tabulating process.  Absentee ballots will be mailed out and will be accepted at the Auditor’s Office beginning October 5th. You can hear more from Fink during a three-part Let’s Talk Guthrie County program starting today on 107.9 FM, KKRF.