DEARBORN — No matter which candidate you support, the Nov. 8 general election could be a close one. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. that day. Oct. 11 is the last day to register for the election.

Registered voters who would like to request an absentee ballot may do so at any time.  The form is available at www.cityofdearborn.org. Search for “absentee voter.”

Voters can request an absentee ballot if they are more than 60-years-old or unable to attend the polls in person on election day due to travel, disability, religious concerns, election work out-of-precinct or incarceration.

Ballots will begin being mailed a few weeks before the election. The city clerk’s office will be open special hours on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to assist voters who would like to request, complete and/or submit an absentee ballot before the election.

Absentee voters are reminded that only immediate family members such as parents, children, siblings or in-laws are allowed to return the ballot for them. Adults living in the same household may also deliver the form.

“No one should be coming knocking on your door asking if you need assistance,” stressed Deputy City Clerk Lola Isiminger.

Doing so is a violation of election law and could result in felony charges against that person.

Along those same lines, absentee voters are NOT allowed to ask another person to return their absentee ballot unless that person is an immediate family member or lives in the same household. U.S. mail carriers are permitted to handle absentee ballots as part of their job.

Isiminger also reminded absentee voters that each person needs to complete his or her own ballot in private. Anyone who assists an absentee voter in any way is required to sign a statement on the ballot’s return envelope. It is felony to try to influence a voter while they are voting.