opinion
I cannot remember not voting in an election. And that stretches back a long time.
This year, however, my wife and I decided to vote by mail. That’s a new option for Pennsylvania voters.
And a smart one – since our polling place has been relocated due to COVID-19. We used to walk the short distance (less than 100 yards) from our home to the poll location. Now, if we opted to vote in-person, it would involve driving to the new location.
I was a bit leery of applying for a mail ballot over the computer for the June 2 primary election, but I forged ahead and went to the website – www.votespa.com – and filled out the easy-to-use form.
Just to be clear: You are not voting by computer, simply applying for a ballot to be mailed to you.
An email confirming my application request popped up in my email box.
That took place back in April.
The second week in May my wife and I each received our mail-in ballots with information on how to fill them out and mail them back.
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After filling in the two-sided ballot (using a black pen), you place it in the envelope provided – marked Mail In Ballot – and seal it in the smaller of the two envelopes you received. So your balloting remains secret.
You then sign and date the back of the larger, pre-addressed envelope and tuck the smaller envelope inside of it. Then seal that one, too.
Put a stamp on it and drop it in a mailbox. (If you don’t want to spring for the cost of postage, the instructions say the sealed envelopes can be hand delivered to the Board of Elections, but you have to do so in-person.) Either way, it has to arrive by election day.
A few days after mailing the ballot, I even received an email stating the envelope had arrived. That was an unexpected – but appreciated – touch.
It’s that simple. And easy. You don’t even get wet if it rains on election day!
If you do not have access to a computer to request a mail-in ballot, you can call the York County Board of Elections and they’ll take your information and send you a ballot.
That number is (717) 771-9604.
But, if you decide to go the mail route, don’t delay. You have to request a mail ballot by May 26!
It is not a hassle to do so and it preserves (in my case) my unbroken voting streak.
No one can question the importance of voting. And for each ballot to be counted.
I consider voting my duty and my right as a registered citizen of a democracy. With Memorial Day around the corner, it’s just another way to remember those who ensured our freedom to vote.
And now it could not be easier for a no-excuses reason to vote.
To quote a sneakers ad: Just Do It.
Gordon Freireich is a former editor of the York Sunday News. Email: gordonaf2805@gmail.com.
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May 19, 2020 at 08:54PM
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Voting by mail: Now, that was easy! - York Daily Record
"easy" - Google News
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