McGrath, relevant or not, I want to go back to the in-on-time ballot question. Domestic absentee ballots have to meet the same criteria as the overseas ones, except the overseas ones are given 10 days, rather than 5 days, to reach the office.

It should not be a problem to get one's absentee ballot in on time, #1: You can vote absentee at least 3 weeks before Election Day and therefore, #2: If you're afraid the mail services won't get your voted ballot to the Elections Office in time, you have the option of doing it earlier.

If you goof up and suddenly realize that you didn't get the absentee ballot request off in good time so that there is no longer time to have the physical ballot mailed to you, in most states you have the option of voting absentee ballot by fax. It's true there are date deadlines in doing that, but in most states if you get your absentee-by-fax request into the office by a week before the election you can vote by fax up until 8:00 PM Election Day.

Domestic and overseas ballots that got in beforeElection Day don't have a problem- because they are date-stamped when they are received in the office.

If all else fails, you can comfort yourself with the knowledge is that yours is just one vote out of millions and there is always next election.

Ebbie