Absentee ballots for the Nov. 8 general election were unavailable Monday morning, three days past the deadline set by the state's election code.
Ballots were supposed to go out Friday, but County Clerk Sarah Smith said Monday afternoon that she had yet to receive them from the Garland County Election Commission. State law mandates that county election commissions were to deliver absentee ballots to county clerks by Sept. 22, or 47 days before the election.
The election commission couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
According to the secretary of state's office, it provided county election commissions with the information they needed to make their respective ballots Aug. 25. The election commission held a ballot draw Aug. 26 to determine the order candidates will appear on Garland County ballots.
In addition to federal and state races, the state also sent the seven legislative and citizen-referred issues that will appear on the ballot. County and city clerks' offices provide the information for local races and issues.
The secretary of state's office said county election commissions generally use ballots from previous elections as a template when arranging races and issues on the current ballot. It said litigation challenging language in several of the statewide issues didn't delay the ballot information from getting to the county level.
"The ongoing lawsuits have not affected our ability to get information to the county election officials," said Kerry Baldwin, director of the secretary of state's communications and education division.
Absentee ballot applications are available under the voter tab at the county clerk's website, http://www.garcoclerk.com, or at the clerk's office in Room 103 of the Garland County Court House.
Nov. 1 is the deadline for applications to be received by the county clerk. Voters who don't live overseas have until 7:30 p.m. on Election Day to get their ballots to the county clerk by mail or hand delivery.
Oct. 9 is the deadline to register to vote. Voters transferring registration from another county have until Nov. 4. Early voting begins Oct. 24.
Local on 09/27/2016