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STORY BY JAMES LAYMAN
n absentee ballot is a way for registered voters to cast their ballot other than the traditional method of appearing in person and casting a ballot on the day of election. There are two different types of absentee ballots: absentee by mail and absentee One-Stop.
Any registered North Carolina voter can request an absentee ballot from his/her respective county board of elections prior to the last Tuesday before the election. You do not need a medical reason nor do you need to be out of town. A handwritten request from the voter or near relative must include the following: • • • •
Voter’s name Voter’s current residence address Voter’s date of birth Address where ballot should be mailed (if different from the residence address) • A daytime phone number (in case there are questions or additional information is needed) • Voter’s signature, or signature of near relative (which is defined as a spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, motherin-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-inlaw, stepparent, or stepchild.)
ONE-STOP ABSENTEE VOTING Any registered North Carolina voter may choose to vote in person using One-Stop Absentee Voting which begins the third Thursday before the election and ends the Saturday prior to the election. North Carolina voters are able to vote by Absentee One-Stop at all county boards of elections offices during regular office hours. There are sites in addition to the Wake County Board of Elections office where you can vote absentee one-stop. Lake Lynn Community Center 7921 Ray Rd., Raleigh Laurel Hills Community Center 3808 Edwards Mill Rd., Raleigh Wake Tech Community College Main Campus 9101 Fayetteville Rd., Raleigh
All requests for absentee ballots must be made in writing. You cannot make requests by phone or e-mail. Mail or hand-deliver a written request to the Wake County Board of Elections.
REASONS TO VOTE ABSENTEE
MOCK ELECTION TODAY Voting for the Technician mock election began at midnight today and students can vote until 10 p.m. To vote, go to www.technicianonline.com and click on the link to the mock election vote. A voter’s guide is also available online with information about each candidate on the ballot. All the major candidates on the Wake County ballot are present, and the Technician can use the results from this mock election to see how students will vote Nov. 4. The more students participate, the more accurate the information will be. Check the Technician Web site and Thursday’s print editions later for results and analysis from the mock election and more information about the upcoming election.
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Avoid the crowd Long lines can keep you busy from doing other things throughout the day. If you absentee vote, it’s not taking up any of your time.
Be sure to affix proper postage when you return your absentee balloting materials to your county board of elections. Please check with your postmaster to determine the proper postage amount. Some counties use ballot return envelopes that do not qualify for standard letter rates (11 ½� X 6 1/8� maximum). The postage on these envelopes costs at least $0.83. Again, check with the post office before mailing your absentee ballot.
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Save gas By mailing in your ballot, you will save money on gas to the polls.
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Vote on your time If you’re a forgetful person, plan on voting at the first absentee onestop. If you miss that one, you have other chances to cast your vote. Election day only happens once every four years so it’s easy to forget about it in the heat of the moment.
What are the deadlines for requesting And returning an absentee ballot? Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. Absentee ballot requests must be received by BOE office. Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. Voted absentee ballots must be received by BOE office.
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Why wait? If you’ve already made up your mind about who you’re going to vote for, there’s no reason for you to wait until election day. Just cast your ballot now.
SOURCE: WWW.WAKEGOV.COM/ELECTIONS AND SBOE. STATE.NC.US
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Stay in Raleigh If you’re registered to vote in your home county and not Wake, absentee voting will keep you from having to drive home just to cast your ballot.
The above sites have the following hours: • Oct. 23 - Nov. 1 (10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday) • Oct. 25 (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.) • Oct. 26 (1 p.m. to 5 p.m.) • Nov. 1 (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
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Don’t miss work If you’re scheduled to work on election day, you can absentee vote on a day a you have off, most likely be small.
Cary Towne Center Mall 1105 Walnut St., Cary Chavis Community Center 505 Martin Luther King Blvd., Raleigh
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Wear it on your shirt When you opt for One-Stop Absentee Voting, you still get a sticker to wear for the day. Your “I voted early� sticker will be an excellent accessory.
Pullen Arts Center 105 Pullen Rd., Raleigh The above sites have the following hours: • Oct. 16 to Nov. 1 • Oct. 16 to 18 (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.) • Oct. 19 and 26 (1 p.m. to 5 p.m.) • Oct. 23 to 25 (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.) • Oct. 27 to 31 (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.) • Nov. 1 (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
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It’s a good excuse It’s a more acceptable excuse for being late. Tell your professor you were voting early, and show him your sticker. He might let you off easy.
SOURCE: WWW.WAKEGOV.COM/ELECTIONS AND SBOE. STATE.NC.US
Town hall forums focus on Greek discipline plans Forum tonight will also feature discussion on Centennial Campus developments Chris Allred News Editor
The Greek judicial review process will be a topic of the second Student Government-sponsored Town Hall Forum, which is scheduled for tonight at 8 p.m. in the Student Senate Chambers. Jay Dawkins, student body president and junior in civil engineering, said Office of Student Conduct director Paul Cousins will speak about ways that Greek organizationss can handle disciplinary issues internally. “There have been conversations with the Office of Student Conduct about taking another look at the way we handle situations like social probation and how fraternity and sorority disciplinary actions are handled,� he said. While plans for Greek judicial review are not final, Public Defender Ben Mazur said it is important that communication improves between the Greek community and Student Conduct. “This new program will add a new level of responsibility and accountability to the Greek leadership between individual fraternities and sororities,� he said.
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Raleigh, North Carolina
ROCKING THE ABSENTEE VOTE A ABSENTEE BY MAIL
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Military stays out of ROTC members’ voting choices Many members of ROTC on campus said they would not let their job interfere with the way they vote James Cox Staff Writer
WHAT ONE POLL SAYS Military Times, which has publications targeted to members of the armed services, conducted a poll of its readers on the presidential election. John McCain was the readers’ choice for president, with 68 percent to Barack Obama’s 23 percent. Here are some of the other questions and responses:
As voters begin to make choices in this year’s election, some “In making your decision about voting for president, John members of the military on McCain’s experience as a naval campus will not let their jobs officer and prisoner of war in determine who they vote for, Vietnam is:� according to Army Major Dennis Connor. Very important - 34 percent Somewhat important 40 percent “There is a big swath of people Not very important - 14 percent that are apolitical,� Connor said. Not at all important - 11 percent “They do their job the best they No opinion or declined to answer can, and they will follow the - 2 percent orders of the Commander-in“In making your decision about Chief.� voting for president, Barack Scott Kincaid, a junior in poObama’s lack of military experilitical science, and a member of ence is:� State’s ROTC program said that Very important - 34 percent being in the military is “a job, Somewhat important - 32 percent not a political identity.� Not very important - 19 percent “The military is separate from Not at all important - 13 percent politics,� Kincaid said. SOURCE: ARMYTIMES.COM Patrick Preston, a captain in the U.S. Army and ROTC employee, said political stereotypes McCain was a prisoner of war about people in the military are in the Vietnam War while he was not true. serving as a naval officer, and 34 “People think that just because percent of respondents said that you are in the was important military means in ma k ing a that you are [a vot i ng dec icertain political sion, while 40 party],� he said. percent said it “A lot of people was somewhat in the military important and have different 14 percent said political views, it was not very but we will do important. our job.� Also, Barack In a recent poll Obama’s lack of by The Army military experiPatrick Preston, Times, a newsence was only a captain in the U.S. Army paper directed very important and ROTC employee to members of to 34 percent the Army, 68 of the survey’s percent of Army respondents respondents. said they would vote for RepubNavy Lt. Nathan Hall said lican presidential nominee John McCain’s military career would McCain, while 24 percent said not influence his vote. they would vote for Democratic nominee Barack Obama. ROTC continued page 3
“A lot of people in the military have different political views, but we will do our job.�
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Associate Athletics Director Dick Christy begins Tuesday night’s student town hall forum. He discussed the current state of the student ticketing policy and what the future holds with the new standby ticketing system.
Many members of the University’s Greek community have felt they were treated unfairly in the disciplinary process because of negative stereotypes associated with Greek organizations, Mazur, a senior in religious studies, said. Greek organizations work hard to give themselves a positive image, he said. According to Mazur, some groups have expressed that “it’s not a fair system when a frater-
nity is tried as a whole organization instead of as individual members.� A possibility for a new system would be for a special studentrun council to try Greek organizations with disciplinary troubles. With this, Mazur said, the students on the council would only deal with Greek issues, so they would be more familiar and could handle situations accordingly.
Neil Ballentine, a junior in biological sciences who has planned the town hall series with Dawkins, said the forum will also focus on Centennial Campus growth and development and gives administrators a chance to discuss campus issues with students. “This is definitely for the students, but the faculty and administration are buying TOWN HALL continued page 3
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
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TODAY’S ELECTION POLL QUESTION: Each day from now until the election on Nov. 4, Technician will be posting a new online poll relating to the election. Cast your vote each day to have your voice heard. We’ll run all of the results on election day.
Would you give up your right to vote for an Apple iPhone? • Yes • No
Visit www.technicianonline.com to cast your vote.
THE MOCK ELECTION IS TODAY. VOTE AT TECHNICIANONLINE.COM UNTIL 10 P.M.