Circuit clerk Jamie Scarbrough says absentee voting has increased threefold for the general election over the primaries and runoff earlier this year.

“We averaged about 30 to 40 absentee ballots in the primaries and the runoff,” Scarbrough said. “We’re already at about 100 right now.”

There’s still time to vote absentee before the election too. The deadline to turn in an application for a ballot is coming up on Thursday and the deadline to have the ballot submitted by hand is Monday at noon, while mailed in ballots can come as late as noon on election day.

Scarbrough said voters looking to vote absentee should probably come by her office in the Pike County Courthouse at this point to get an application.

“They can call our office or come by but thedeadline for us to receive the application is Thursday, December 7, so there may not be time to request an application through the mail,” Scarbrough said.

Scarbrough said the person requesting the ballot or voting, not a friend or family member, must turn in absentee ballots and applications.

In order to vote absentee, a qualified voter must:

• be out of the county or state on Election Day,

• have a physical illness or infirmity which prevents his or her attendance at the polls, whether he or she is within or outside the county on the day of election,

• work a shift which has at least 10 hours which coincide with the hours the polls are open at his or her regular polling place,

• be enrolled as a student at an educational institution located outside the county of his or her personal residence which prevents his or her attendance at the polls,

• be a member of, or spouse or dependent of a member of, the armed forces of the United States or be similarly qualified to vote absentee pursuant to the Federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 42 U.S.C. 1973ff, or

• have been appointed as an election officer or named as a poll watcher at a polling place other than his or her regular polling place.

Separate applications for absentee ballots are required for elections which are more than 42 days apart, except as to individuals voting pursuant to the Federal Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act, 42 U.S.C. 1973ff.

Completed absentee applications must include the Alabama residence where the voter is registered to vote, even if the ballot is to be mailed to another address where the applicant/voter regularly receives mail. If you have moved and have not updated your voter registration, you should contact the Pike County Board of Registrars at 120 W. Church St. Troy, AL  36081 and update your address prior to applying for an absentee ballot.  You may contact the registrar’s office at 334-566-1757.

The absentee election manager is required to post each day a list of absentee voters to include names, addresses and voting places of each applicant. This list will be posted on the public bulletin board on the first floor of the courthouse.

The election will be held on Tuesday, December 12, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Voting places will be the same as the primary and runoff elections.

Residents can check with the Board of Registrars to ensure they are eligible to vote and where their polling places are.

Scarbrough said Alabama’s new law blocking crossover voting, which keeps citizens that voted in one party’s primary from voting in the other party’s runoff, does not apply to the general election.

“It doesn’t matter who you voted for in the primary,” Scarbrough said. “You can vote for whoever you want to in the general election.”

Photo ID is required at the polls to vote.

The candidates for the U.S. Senate seat are Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones.