Less than 2 weeks remain until Election Day

With early voting having already started and the Nov. 5 General Election now less than two weeks away, needless to say it’s a busy time in the office of Hamilton County Clerk Jill DeMers, who also serves as the county’s election commissioner. It has also one of the more unusual election cycles for DeMers. That’s partly because for the first time in her more than 20 years in the position there are a total of six write-in candidates in various elections across the county, including four for Aurora City Council. 
DeMers said the presence of so many write-in candidates will mean final election results in those races will probably not be available on election night or even a few days thereafter until the intent of the voters can be determined. 
According to the secretary of state’s office, “write-in votes are not counted individually if the total number of write-ins is less than 5 percent of the vote for such office in the county and the county election official believes that such vote will not impact the outcome of the election. In that case, all write-in votes for that office may be counted and listed together as one total.” Those interested in running as write-in candidates still have until Oct. 25 to file an affidavit with the clerk’s office. 
Voters are strongly advised not to use sticker’s with the write-in candidate’s name on their ballot as it could jam tabulating equipment, fall off or be tampered with. 
The clerk said, contrary to some reports, the actual spelling of the write-in candidate’s name is not absolutely crucial as long as it’s clear for whom the voter is casting a ballot. For instance, if the candidate’s name is “Hansen,” writing in “Hanson” would probably not disqualify the vote. A candidate guide provided by the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office states, “Write-in candidate names that are misspelled are still counted as long as it is a reasonably close spelling of the last name.” 
However, DeMers said it is absolutely critical that when writing in a candidate, the voter must darken the oval next to the name. She said even if everything else is correct, the voting machine will not count that vote if the oval is not darkened. 
One job that has kept the clerk’s office busy the last few days has been mailing out hundreds of mail-in only and early ballots to county voters. Ballots for mail-in-only Precincts 1-6 were mailed October 16, and DeMers says as of Friday morning 431 registered voters had asked for an early ballot. Those ballots can either be mailed back or dropped off at the ballot drop box in front of the courthouse or in her office during business hours. 
DeMers suggested that since all of the local mail now goes through Omaha, voters may feel more secure dropping off their ballots at the courthouse if it is getting close to election day. Oct. 25 is the last day the clerk’s office can mail out a ballot. That is also the last day for voters to register to vote in this election and the clerk’s office will stay open until 6 p.m. that day to register voters. 
Voters may also come into the courthouse during business hours and request a ballot and vote there if they desire. Registered voters may vote early in the clerk’s office up until 5 p.m. on Nov. 4 and early voting ballots must be in the clerk’s office by 8 p.m. on election day.  
Polling places will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day. Voters in Precinct 7 will vote at the Hordville Event Center, Precinct 8 at the Marquette Fire Hall/Community Center and Wards 1 -3 in Aurora will vote at the Bremer Center.