County mail carrier Gregg Steighner, left, and seasonal employee Tom Baker load mail-in ballots into a county vehicle outside the Butler Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Registrars Faye Carbin, left, and Jessica Smith, center, along with election director Chantell McCurdy transport mail-in ballots down the hallway of the Butler Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

The Butler County Bureau of Elections will begin sending mail-in and absentee ballots to voters who applied for them on or about Tuesday, Oct. 1.

The 21,931 ballot applications the bureau has received as of Sept. 26 represents the highest number since the bureau received 41,742 for the 2020 general election, said Chantell McCurdy, bureau director. She said 15,135 applications were received for last year’s general election.

Applications that were found to be duplicates or sent by people not registered to vote in the county were denied, she said.

Oct. 29 is the deadline for voters to apply for mail-in and absentee ballots.

Voters who receive those ballots must mail them in time for the bureau to receive them by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.

When the bureau receives those ballots, they are run through a machine that sorts them by voting precincts and checks to determine if the envelopes contain the required information and materials, McCurdy said.

The envelopes are then recorded into the voter registration system, and organized alphabetically by precinct, she said.

Reports from the voter registration system are periodically printed out. These reports are manually checked against the ballot envelopes to ensure all envelopes are recorded and organized correctly.

All ballot envelopes that are recorded as being received and complete are opened and counted on Election Day, which is required by the state’s election code, she said.

Of the 142,299 people who are registered as of Sept. 26 to vote in the county, 81,436 registered as Republicans, 40,109 registered as Democrats, 857 registered as Libertarians and 19,897 registered with other party affiliations, according to the bureau.

Election director Chantell McCurdy helps load mail-in ballots into the back seat of a county vehicle outside the Butler Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

County mail carrier Gregg Steighner along with poll worker and precinct coordinator Adam Price, seasonal employee Tom Baker and Election Director Chantell McCurdy load mail in ballots into a county vehicle outside the Butler Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

County mail carrier Gregg Steighner, left, along with poll worker and precinct coordinator Adam Price, seasonal employee Tom Baker and Election Director Chantell McCurdy load mail in ballots into a county vehicle outside the Butler Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Seasonal employee Tom Baker, left, and County mailman Gregg Steighner transport mail in ballots to be loaded into a county vehicle outside the Butler Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

County mail carrier Gregg Steighner, left, along with poll worker and precinct coordinator Adam Price, seasonal employee Tom Baker and election bureau director Chantell McCurdy load mail in ballots into a county vehicle outside the Butler Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

County mail carrier Gregg Steighner and election director Chantell McCurdy close the trunk of a county vehicle loaded down with mail-in ballots outside the Butler Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Election director Chantell McCurdy helps load mail-in ballots into the back seat of a county vehicle outside the Butler Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Election director Chantell McCurdy helps load mail-in ballots into the back seat of a county vehicle outside the Butler Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Election director Chantell McCurdy helps load mail-in ballots into the back seat of a county vehicle outside the Butler County Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

County mailman Gregg Steighner, left, along with poll worker and precinct coordinator Adam Price and seasonal employee Tom Baker load mail-in ballots into a county vehicle outside the Butler County Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Election director Chantell McCurdy helps load mail-in ballots into the back seat of a county vehicle outside the Butler County Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

County mail carrier Gregg Steighner, left, along with poll worker and precinct coordinator Adam Price and seasonal employee Tom Baker load mail in ballots into a county vehicle outside the Butler County Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Registrars Faye Carbin, left, and Jessica Smith, center, along with election director Chantell McCurdy transport mail-in ballots down the hallway of the Butler County Bureau of Elections ahead of their being mailed out on Tuesday, Oct. 1. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle