In both towns, residents will be voting on whether to grant a franchise to Oklahoma Gas & Electric the right to produce and distribute electricity in the towns.
“The polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Nov. 8 for the Bennington and Bokchito Special Municipal Election,” Fahrendorf said. “Any registered voter who is in line to vote at 7 p.m. will be able to vote.”
Fahrendorf said voters can expect lines at most polling places, but lines are likely to be shortest at midmorning and mid-afternoon.
Fahrendorf encouraged voters to take their Voter Identification Cards to the polls with them. “Chances are that you won’t need your Voter Identification Card, but if there is a problem, having your card may help election officials resolve it,” Fahrendorf said.
She suggested that voters call the County Election Board office before election day if they have any questions about their eligibility or the location of polling places.
Fahrendorf said that a valid marking, a filled-in arrow, is shown on posters at the polling place and inside the voting booths. An illustration of a valid marking also is printed at the top of the ballot card. “If you have questions about how to mark your ballot to insure that it is counted correctly, ask the precinct officials,” Fahrendorf said.
“If you make a mistake marking your ballot, don’t try to correct it. Take the spoiled ballot back to the precinct officials. They will destroy it and give you a new one.”
After marking the ballot, the voter should go to the voting device and insert the ballot into the voting device.
The voting device can read the ballot regardless of the direction it is inserted, face up or down, top first or bottom first. If the voting device is unable to detect any valid marking on the ballot, or if the voting device detects too many valid markings for a single office or question, it immediately returns the ballot to the voter. It also prints a message explaining the problem. The precinct officials will issue a new ballot to the voter, if necessary, if either of these problems occur.
Voters who want to cast absentee ballots still can do so at the County Election Board office on Monday. A two-member, bipartisan Absentee Voting Board will be on duty each day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to assist absentee voters.
“In-person absentee voters fill out an application form when they get to the office. They are not required to give a reason for voting absentee,” Fahrendorf said. “They are required to swear that they have not voted a regular mail absentee ballot and that they will not vote at their polling places on election day.”
According to Fahrendorf, the Absentee Voting Board verifies a voter’s registration information, then issues the voter’s ballots.
The voter marks the ballots in a voting booth and then puts them in the voting device. “It is very much like voting at a precinct polling place,” said Fahrendorf.
Persons violating election laws can expect to be reported, election officials promised.
Fahrendorf said that apparent violations will be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
Fahrendorf pointed out that electioneering is prohibited within 300 feet of any ballot box while an election is in progress. “In fact, no one except election officials and voters waiting to vote is allowed within 50 feet of any ballot box on election day.”
Fahrendorf said it also is unlawful to take intoxicating liquors of any kind or quantity to within onehalf mile of a polling place on election day.
Two other violations also were discussed by Fahrendorf.
It is unlawful for any person to disclose how he voted to any other person within the election enclosure,” Fahrendorf said. “And, it’s against the law for anyone to remove a ballot from the polling place or to carry a ballot into the polling place.”
Contact the County Election Board, located at 217 North 16th, for more information. The telephone number is 580-924-3228.
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