Letter to the Editor: Voters who waited at least five days to mail their absentee ballots are to blame for the ballots not being counted

(The following Letter to the Editor has been submitted by Paul Hunter of Decorah):

"Let's look at the absentee ballot issue from another angle.

If you want to vote by absentee ballot through the mail, you can request one from the Auditor's office up until 10 days before the election.  This year that date was Saturday, October 27th.  That means that you most likely received your ballot in the mail on Tuesday, October 30th, or at the very latest Wednesday, October 31st.  The instructions clearly state when the ballot has to be returned to the Auditor's office for it to be valid and counted.  The safe thing to do is fill out your ballot when you get it and put it in the mail the next day.  That way you know it will arrive at the Auditors Office in time for it to be valid.  In fact, some people actually hand delivered their absentee ballots to the Auditor to make sure it was returned in time.

On the other hand, you could wait until the day before the election and drop it in the mail, hoping that it is postmarked properly by the US Post Office in Waterloo and that it arrives on time to be counted.  Since the return envelope you get from the Auditor's office is already marked with prepaid postage, there is technically no need for the Post Office to postmark the envelope to cancel any stamps.  Maybe your envelope gets a postmark, maybe it doesn't.  Maybe it gets to the Auditor's Office on time, maybe it doesn't.

If you decide to vote absentee through the mail and your ballot doesn't arrive in time or isn't properly postmarked, don't accuse  the post office employees of 'taking away the right to vote of 29 people.'  And don't claim those 29 people did 'everything they could to comply with the rule.'   The voter let his or her ballot sit on the kitchen table for 5 days before deciding to return it.  That places the blame squarely on the voter's shoulders.

Oh, and the Board of Supervisors have no choice in the matter.  They can't override state law when they canvass the votes Tuesday, even if the media asks 'is that fair?'."