Saturday absentee voting opportunity reminder

New Albany Municipal Clerk Frankie Roberts will be at City Hall Saturday, May 29, from 8 a.m. until noon for the convenience of voters who want to cast absentee ballots for the June 8 general election.

You can qualify to cast an absentee ballot if you are 65 or older, will be out of town June 8, can claim a disability, or fit into one of several other categories.

You probably will not have to wait and voting will probably take less than five minutes.

Qualified voters can also cast absentee ballots during regular City Hall office hours and from 8 a.m. until noon Saturday, June 5, which is the deadline.

Absentee ballots can be requested and returned by mail but that obviously takes more time.

Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by the Municipal Clerk’s Office within five business days.

City officials are urging people to vote early if they qualify because of fears that voter turnout will be very low. Only about a third of registered voters participated in the April 6 party primaries and there is concern the number may be much lower June 8.

Friday, only 39 absentee ballots had been cast. People may not vote because they consider races they are interested in settled, because they believe their candidates will win without them, because they will be on vacation or simply because they forget about it or are too busy Election Day.

A low turnout, of course, makes each vote more critical and as few as a dozen votes could swing a race. In one primary race here April 6, only four votes kept top candidates from going into a runoff. One race here several years ago ended up being decided on a coin toss.

Here’s are the candidates New Albany voters will have to make decisions concerning:

 All four wards:

Mayor

• James Dean (D)
• Tim Kent (R)

Chief of Police

• Chris Robertson (R)

Alderman-at-Large

• Keith Conlee (R)
• J. Lynn West (I)

Ward One only:

Ward One Alderman

• Ashley Kidd (R)
• Parks Smith (I)
• Jessica Winston (D)

Ward Two only

Ward Two Alderman

• Drew Horn (R)
• Tim Johnson (D)

Ward Three only:

Ward Three Alderman

• Kevin Dale White (D)

Ward Four only:

Ward Four Alderman

• Will Tucker (R)

Anyone with questions about the New Albany election may call Municipal Clerk Frankie Roberts at 662-534-1010 or go to City Hall.