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Early Voting with my Mother
March 11, 2008
Dear Friends,
Concerned about making it to the polls for the April 1st election? Will your job or vacation plans take you out of town on Election Day? Or, like my Mother, are you over 65 and want to go ahead and cast your vote now?
These circumstances all meet the criteria for early voting and you now can go to the Richland County Voter Registration Office in the County Building (corner of 
Hampton and Harden streets) to vote early in the upcoming District 3 City Council election. The Voter Registration Office is on the Harden Street side of the county building and is open from 8:30-5:30, Monday through Friday.
On Monday, my 85-year-old Mother called to tell me that she felt it was a good day for her to vote - the weather was beautiful and she felt up to the ride to Harden Street - and off we went. It took her all of five minutes to vote! Once inside she asked for an absentee ballot request form, completed it, and marked her vote on the April 1 ballot right there. Now, Mother didn't tell me who she actually voted for, but she did give me a big beautiful smile as we got back into the car!
Of course, Mother could have called the Voter Registration Office at 576-2240 and asked for an Absentee Ballot Request Form. She would have then been mailed a form to complete and mail back in, and soon afterwards received a ballot to complete and return by mail. Quite frankly, it was a lot easier simply to take Mother to the County Building and do everything at once!
Voter turnout in our municipal elections is terribly low - less that 25% of the registered voters in District 3 voted in the last, highly contested Mayor's race two years ago. I hope you will do everything possible to make sure that you vote in this important election. And please remember that if you have voting-age children who reside out-of-town, they can early vote through absentee ballot or by stopping by the Voter Registration Office when they are home on Spring Break!
Sincerely,
Belinda Gergel