Election officials in Ohio, West Virginia offer ballot tutorial

The Trump campaign is suing the State of Nevada over its plans to conduct the upcoming election entirely by mail, which has resulted in a lot of confusion about all mail in versus absentee voting.

"Personally, where I think the confusion is coming in is that other states don’t have in-person voting at polling locations,” said Jefferson County Board of Elections Director Diane Gribble.

While some parts of the country may be holding an all mail-in election, that is not the case locally, and there is a difference between absentee and mail-in.

In West Virginia and Ohio there are three ways to vote - at the polls on election day, absentee by mail, or absentee in person, which is also sometimes called early voting.

Absentee voting requires an application to receive a ballot, whereas all mail-in sometimes does not

"From what I understand, some of those states mail ballots to every registered voter,” Gribble said. “There is no application process.”

Gribble said it is the steps taken in Ohio through the application process that she believes prevents issues.

"Before you ever get a ballot you have to prove your identification, sign for it, we have to verify your signature,” she explained. “We know it’s going to a person who is legitimately registered to vote.”

It is a similar story in West Virginia. While applications will be required for both states, the process for receiving an application is different. In Ohio, the secretary of state will send out applications to registered voters the first week of September. In West Virginia, you will have to request an application which differs from the primary election last spring.

“This time they’re not going to be doing that,” said Brooke County Clerk Kim Barbetta. “If you want to vote absentee, you have to request that on your own.”

Barbetta said she wants voters to take the time to make sure their voter registration information is up-to-date. For those voting absentee mail-in, there are also some options.

"If you aren’t comfortable sending back your ballot through the mail, you can physically bring that into the office,” she said. “You’ll sign and we will sign that we have taken your ballot.”

As far as dropping of ballots, the process differs county by county. Any questions should be directed to your local board of elections.

For more information about Ohio voting, click here. For more information about West Virginia voting, click here.