Elderly voters who live in a nursing home or similar care facility and need help filling out mail-in absentee ballots may find that help by contacting their local boards of elections.

The assistance also is provided to people with limited mobility or who have disabilities. “Oftentimes, these voters require assistance in completing the forms or marking the ballot (also, casting a mail-in absentee ballot requires witness signatures from either two witnesses or a notary public),” according to the State Board of Elections’ website.

Beaufort County, as do the other 99 counties in the state, has a Multipartisan Assistance Team available to provide assistance with mail-in absentee ballots. Each team is composed of, at minimum, persons whose voter registrations are affiliated with two different political parties (or people appointed by a county’s unbiased Board of Elections). Team members undergo training by their respective boards of elections) and receive certification before they are allowed to help voters, according to the State Board of Elections’ website.

The Beaufort County MAT was formed in 2014, but it was not used because no one requested assistance. Anita Bullock Branch, deputy director of the county’s Board of Elections, and Republican Jackie Leggett were on that team.

“We just never had anyone ask for it,” said Kellie Harris Hopkins, the county’s elections director.

According to state law, the first preference is for a voter to receive help from a close relative or guardian in submitting mail-in absentee ballots. Some voters do not have a close relative or guardian available to provide that assistance. Employees of hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and rest homes are not allowed to provide such assistance, according to state law.

A MAT may assist eligible voters these ways:

• Requesting a mail-in absentee ballot: To receive an absentee ballot by mail, a request must be made on the official Absentee Ballot Request Form. MATs can provide this form and help fill it out if necessary. The form is then delivered back to the proper county’s board of elections office, and the ballot will be mailed in the following days.

• Casting a mail-in absentee ballot: If a voter has requested a mail-in absentee ballot, it will arrive in the mail, along with a special return envelope. On the back of the return envelope, the voter must enter some information and sign his or her name. It is also required that two witnesses (or a notary public) are present while the voter marks his or her absentee ballot, and those witnesses sign on the return envelope as well. MATs can help with marking the ballot, completing the required information on the return envelope, and serving as witnesses to the act of voting. MATs can also place the ballot in the mail to go back to the county board of elections office.

For more information about the MATS program in Beaufort County, call the Beaufort County Board of Elections at 946-2321 or visit http://www.ncsbe.gov/ncsbe/Voting/Absentee-Voting/MAT