Get the college kids to vote! Or, the joys of “mail-in” votes

We had a terrific presentation Wednesday night by Superintendent Jim O’Neill at the high school PTO meeting. Afterwards, there was a lively discussion of what I think is a little known or understood voting option – absentee ballots.

Absentee ballots are important on two fronts, something I’ve only discovered in the last few weeks as I’ve gotten more involved with Education Counts. First, as the woman at the PTO meeting said, her husband uses them every year. Little known fact – you don’t actually have to be ‘absent’, or have a reason to be absent from the voting booth, to use an absentee ballot (which is why they're sometimes called "mail-in votes"). This was welcome news in our house, since my husband can come home anywhere from 6 – 8 pm at night (or later depending on the reliability of the trains, thank you very much NJ transit!). Since I’m likely to be out that day gently (I promise, gently!) encouraging people to vote, I’m thinking its one less thing I’ll have to do that day also.

The other front that’s worth keeping in mind is our favorite absent, adult population – college kids. I thought this was a good time to bring this up because my college age son is coming home today, and I’m assuming many of Chatham’s favorite sons and daughters will also be returning for spring break in the next few weeks. I would suggest that along with their favorite dinners you serve up to them a copy of the absentee ballot application. Or even better, put it on their pillow (I know they generally sleep for the first 24, or 48, or 72 hours). Feel free to fill most of it out for them and have the envelope to send it to the County Clerk’s office addressed and stamped (I think legally they only have to sign it).

After the application goes in, the actual ballot will be mailed to them at school and they can fill it out and mail it from there (although I’m sure a few gentle email, text message, or card reminders wouldn’t hurt. I usually accompany mine with cookies when I really want something done).

You can obtain the applications at the schools, or better yet, you can download and print them in the next 60 seconds from this website:

http://www.njelections.org/absentee_doe.html

The completed application should be mailed to:

Morris County Clerk
Absentee Ballot Applications
Hall of Records Administration Building
Court Street
P.O. Box 315
Morristown, NJ 07963-0315.

All of this information is on the Education Counts website also, at http://educationcounts.info/absentee.html

A couple caveats I learned today at a private EC meeting at a home in Wickham Woods:

1. This is a two step process. You have to send in the application, and then the ballot when it arrives
2. Once you commit to be an ‘absentee balloter’, you can’t change your mind on Election Day and go to the polls. At the polling place, your name will have something like ‘absentee balloter’ next to it. You have to send in the ballot you receive in the mail. So while I think it’s very convenient, make sure you’re committed to doing this.

What if your sleepy 18 – 22 year old thinks this issue doesn’t really concern them? You might not have this problem with Chatham schools alumni, but my 19 year old never went to school here. Sadly, he doesn’t worry, as I do, that his younger siblings get a good education and don’t spend their lives in my basement. As you might guess from my previous blog, I played the property values card with him. After telling him that his best chance for an inheritance some day was from the sale of whatever property his father and I owned, he was a little more motivated to send in a ballot. (I also warned him there was no point in bumping us off for this inheritance until the economy recovered).

So there’s my latest suggestion for increasing voter participation in the school vote and involving the newly enfranchised population of our municipalities in the political process.

Any comments?