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Do it in pen, not sauce
Some tips on how to make sure your absentee ballot counts

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
First published in print: Tuesday, October 27, 2009

For anyone who has ever taken the SATs, an absentee ballot should be a no-brainer: fill out the bubbles firmly to ensure your mark is dark, control your pen strokes, fold it neatly, sign the envelope and mail it back.
But each year, a countless number of voters break those rules -- whether by overzealously circling their candidate of choice or writing hate notes next to the names of candidates they dislike -- potentially costing themselves, and their candidates, their precious votes.
Some, to the eternal puzzlement of elections officials, just send them back blank.

Republican Albany County Elections Commissioner John A. Graziano notes that election officials will go out of their way to count the ballots so long as the voters' intent is clear.

"If it's clear, and it's inside the box, generally speaking, it's fine," Graziano said, warning, however, that once lawyers get involved in tight races, they will seize on the smallest flaw to try to disqualify a ballot.

That includes food stains -- an issue that came to light in the lengthy ballot counting after this year's special election to fill the seat in the 20th Congressional District.

"We have seen all manner of good Italian cooking," acknowledges Brian Quail, Schenectady County's Democratic elections commissioner. "People could argue, but we've not had any sauce ballots eliminated."

Do...

Fill out the provided circle completely, neatly and dark, with a pen or pencil

When writing in a candidate, print neatly in the box provided in the appropriate column and fill out the accompanying circle

Make sure your ballot is postmarked by the day before Election Day (Nov. 2)

Keep your lunch away from the ballot

Don't...

Do not overvote in any one vertical column. That is, if the ballot says vote for one, only vote for one candidate. Overvoting will invalidate your choice for that office.

Do not circle or largely cross out boxes for the desired candidates. Any marks that stray into adjacent boxes could invalidate that vote or the entire ballot.

Do not erase or cross out mistakes. If your ballot is damaged or you made a mistake, contact the Board of Elections that issued it.

Do not write messages on the ballot; any stray marks could invalidate the entire thing.