Official: Be sure to mail absentee ballots early

A Carbon County official urges people who need an absentee ballot to vote during an election to get their absentee ballots in early in future elections after nearly 25 percent of those submitted last month didn’t arrive before the deadline.

Commissioner William O’Gurek said on Thursday that it alarmed him to see that close to 25 percent of the absentee ballots submitted didn’t count because they arrived in the mail after the deadline for the primary election.

“I don’t know the answer to it,” O’Gurek said, adding that he wasn’t sure if was a mailing issue or what. “But I encourage voters to get their absentee ballot application and ballot in early.”

O’Gurek said this election didn’t have many races, but asked what happens in elections where a few votes could make a difference in the outcome of an election.

Lisa Dart, elections director, said that the U.S. Postal Service is working on problems like this because it isn’t just a Carbon County problem.

The elections bureau puts on a certain identifying mark on absentee ballots when mailing them to voters that alerts the postal service to expedite the delivery.