Deadline to request absentee ballots is 5 p.m. today

Requests for mail in or faxed absentee ballots for the Aug. 7 primary election must be received by the election authority no later than the 5 p.m. today, according to a news release from the Cape Girardeau County Clerk's Office.

Voters can request absentee ballots from their local election authority in person or by fax. Applications may also be completed in person by relatives within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity on behalf of the voter. Absentee voters must provide one of the following reasons for voting absentee: absence from the jurisdiction of the election authority in which they are registered on election day; incapacity or confinement due to illness or physical disability. This also includes those who are primarily responsible for the physical care of a person who is incapacitated or confined due to illness or disability; religious belief or practice; employment as an election authority, as a member of an election authority or by an election authority at a location other than their polling place; incarceration, if all qualifications for voting are retained.

Voters can vote by absentee in the Cape Girardeau or Jackson office of the County Clerk until 5 p.m. the day before the election. Office hours are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Both offices are open the Wednesday prior until 5 p.m., the Saturday preceding the election from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., and the Monday before until 5 p.m.