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Many voters may not have seen a ballot where a vote is cast by putting a shaft on an arrow or know who all of the smaller party presidential candidates are on the ballot.

It came to the Botetourt View's attention that at least one person receiving an absentee ballot by mail was unfamiliar with the Optical Scan version of voting. Rather than using a darkened circle or an "x" or a check for a box, the voter must complete the shaft on an arrow. The older adult who brought this to our attention had instructions that came with the absentee ballot, but since he had never seen anything like it, he found it confusing.

Yet, for the scanning machine it is the only way to vote! After the ballot is returned by mail, it will be opened on election day and scanned into the Optical Scan machine in the registrar's office.

Botetourt voter registrar Phyllis Booze remarked that people may have some difficulty with it. "The General Assembly members test group had a hard time following the instructions for the oval, so it is little wonder people are having trouble with this."

Once you understand the instructions, a number two pencil is used to draw a line, the shaft, on the arrow pointing to the candidate of choice for President, U.S. Senate and 6th District Congressional seat. If a voter chooses to vote for all three offices, there should only be three arrows drawn on the ballot--one for each office. You cannot use a pen-- it has to be a pencil, Booze stated.

The presidential ticket has the President and Vice President voted for in one arrow as a pair.

The gentleman who called attention to the ballot mentioned he had not heard of some of the presidential candidates. Besides the McCain-Palin Republican ticket and the Obama-Biden Democratic ticket, here are the rest of the candidates listed for the office of president and vice president:

Independent Green Party: Chuck Baldwin and Darrell L. Castle.

Libertarian: Bob Barr and Wayne A. Root

Green Party: Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente

Independent: Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalaz.

Thus the left column of the absentee ballot by mail is for the presidential election only. Six people (with their running mates) are running for President of the United States this year.

Absentee ballots can also be cast by coming into the Registrar's office in Fincastle between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday until November 1. Those votes are cast on a voting machine.