In most states, you must apply for an absentee (mail in) ballot in advance of the deadline, usually seven days before Election Day, but sometimes more. What happens if you suddenly become ill after the absentee ballot application deadline has passed? Or if you get suddenly called out of town on a business trip and cannot return until after Election Day?

In many states, you can request an “emergency absentee ballot” or ask to vote early at the county elections office. However, the laws in each state are different. For example, in Kentucky, you and your spouse can get an absentee ballot if you suffer a medical emergency between October 21 and November 3, but otherwise you have to demonstrate that you are absent from the county on all other days in which “absentee voting at the county clerk's office” is taking place.