Voters can request absentee ballots for June 11 primary

Voters in North Dakota voters can request absentee ballots, which will be mailed to voters starting May 2.

The North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office also will send out absentee ballots for the June 11 primary to military service members and residents overseas beginning Friday.

Voters who choose to vote absentee must fill out a ballot application and have their ballots postmarked, dropped off in person to their county auditor, or inserted into a secure ballot drop box at an official polling location by June 10, one day before the statewide primary.

Vote-by-mail counties in North Dakota also require ballot applications to be completed before a voter receives a ballot, said Donnell Preskey, executive director of the North Dakota County Auditors Association.

“No ballots are just mailed out without somebody saying, ‘I want one and this is who I am,’” Preskey said. “They have to prove that they are who they are and that they live in the right place to get a ballot.”

Proof of residency and identification are required as part of the application process to receive an absentee ballot, she said.

She added, even though a North Dakota county may be a vote-by-mail county, they are also required to have a polling location open on Election Day.

Early voting will begin in seven North Dakota counties during the first week in June. Early voting differs from absentee voting because voters do not need to fill out an application to receive a ballot since early voting operates like a traditional polling location during select hours in the lead up to a statewide election. A complete list of early voting locations and their hours of operation is available through the Secretary of State’s website.

Preskey said some counties are struggling to find poll workers, which could affect how many polling locations are open on Election Day.

“Across the board, it’s a struggle to find enough workers,” she said.

For more information on obtaining an absentee ballot application, visit the North Dakota Secretary of State’s website.

This story and headline were corrected to reflect when the Secretary of State’s Office will begin mailing absentee ballots, not when they can be requested.