Voters must apply for mail-in ballot

Republican and Democratic primaries will be held on March 3rd, and registered voters who are 65 years of age and older, disabled, or those who will be out of the county during early voting and election day may be eligible to vote by mail.

In order to receive a ballot-by-mail, application must be made to the clerk’s office no later than Feb. 21st. Ballots cannot be requested by telephone. Only after the application is processed will a ballot be mailed to the applicant.

Cass County Clerk, Amy Varnell, hopes to preempt confusion on the subject and wants voters to know that they must request an application for a ballot-by-mail from her office. However, efforts to promote voter turnout have both parties sending applications to voters based on previous party affiliation. These applications are valid, but party affiliation is pre-filled and may return to the voter a ballot for the unintended party.

Varnell had this for voters, “If you receive an Application for a Ballot by Mail from one of the parties, look at those applications carefully to be certain it is a request from the party you want to vote for. If you receive an application from one of the political parties and you have already submitted an application, you need not submit a second one.”

For more information on voting by mail, contact the Cass County Clerk’s office at 903-756-5071.

The deadline to register to vote in the primary is Feb. 3. For more information on voter registration, contact the Cass County Tax Assessor at 903-756-5513. All registered voters are eligible for early voting in person Feb. 18th - 28th.