We’re only about six weeks away from a presidential primary election.  State and local election officials are starting the absentee voting process for a special group of Missourians.

Thousands of Missourians are or will be overseas by the time February 7th gets here.  Absentee ballots for them are available tomorrow from local election authorities. For those out of the country, applying for one of those ballots is a little more complicated than it is for stay-at-homes.

Deputy Secretary of State Waylene Hiles in the elections office says applications for those ballots are available on the Secretary of State’s web page. In most circumstances the ballot cannot be cast on the internet.  They have to be sent back through regular mail or through shipping services.  .

However, a person in one of more than fifty hostile zones can use the internet or a fax machine to return the ballot.  The rest have to use regular mail or express services to get their ballots back by February 7th. 

It’s possible to authorize a guardian or a relative get a ballot and return it to the election authority office without the voters waiting for weeks to get the ballot and for weeks to get it back.

AUDIO: Interview with Waylene Hiles 8:02 mp3