Thursday is the last day to apply for an absentee ballot for the Brundidge runoff election to be held next Tuesday.

The official deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Thursday. Applications can be made at the city clerk’s office or through the mail. Voted ballots must be returned by noon on the day of the election.

“Someone could come in at 4:30 on Thursday and apply and vote on-site,” said City Clerk Britt Thomas. “Or they can send in the application and the ballot through the U.S. Postal Service.”

Thomas said approximately 300 absentee ballots have been applied for so far in the runoff, but that it doesn’t necessarily represent how many citizens will vote absentee in the election.

“Sometimes you get a lot more applications than votes,” Thomas said. “It just depends on what the person that receives it does with it.”

One person can make absentee ballot applications for any number of people, but the voter must return the applications either directly to the city clerk or through the U.S. Postal Service. Each voter must pick up his or her won ballot from the clerk’s office or have it delivered to his or her place of residence.

There are several reasons that a resident can vote absentee:

The person will be out of the county or the state on Election Day.

The person has any physical illness or infirmity which prevents his attendance at the polls.

The person is unable to access their assigned polling place due to a neurological, musculoskeletal, respiratory (including speech organs) cardiovascular or other life-altering disorder that affects their ability to perform manual tasks, stand for any length of time, walk unassisted, see, hear, or speak AND: (a) they are an elderly voter aged 65 or older OR (b) they are a voter with a disability.

The person works a shift which has at least ten (10) hours that coincide with the polling hours at their regular polling place.

The person is enrolled as a student at an educational institution located outside the county of their personal residence, attendance at which prevents their attendance at the polls.

The person is a member of, or spouse or dependent of a member of, the Armed Forces of the United States or is otherwise similarly qualified to vote absentee pursuant to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 42 U.S.C. 1973ff.

The person has been appointed as an election officer at a polling place which is not their regular polling place.

The Thursday deadline only applies to the Brundidge runoff election. The deadline to vote absentee in the general election is Thursday, November 3.