DEADLINE APPROACHING TO OBTAIN ABSENTEE BALLOTS.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

Voters who want to cast an absentee ballot in the November election must have their application mailed in to election officials by Tuesday.

Voters who are unable to go to a polling place on Nov. 3 have another option as well: casting their ballot in person at the registrar's office in Norwalk on any day before Election Day.

To make it easier for people to vote in person before the election, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office will be open on each of the next two weekends, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Voters also can cast their ballot in person on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the registrar's office: 12400 Imperial Highway, Room 3002, Norwalk.

``We're offering this service to assist people who may be going out of town on Election Day or may be having other scheduling conflicts on Election Day,'' said registrar's office spokeswoman Marcia Ventura.

Any registered voter can request an absentee ballot and no explanation is required.

The election this year will decide the next governor of California as well as other state offices, federal and state legislative seats, and a large number of other positions and ballot measures.

To vote by mail, a person must first fill out and sign the absentee ballot form on the back of the sample ballot and either mail or deliver it to the registrar's office, at the above address in Norwalk, by Tuesday.

If someone has lost the sample ballot, he or she can send a request in writing to the registrar's office by printing his or her name, residential address and address where the ballot should be sent, and then signing it.

``We can't take the request over the phone because we need a voter's signature,'' Ventura said.

This letter must be addressed to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office, Document Receipts Section, P.O. Box 30450, Los Angeles, CA 90030-0450.

There are two ways to return an absentee ballot. If mailed, it must be received at the registrar's office by Election Day, so it should be sent several days in advance of Nov. 3.

Or voters can drop off absentee ballots at any polling place in Los Angeles County on Election Day before the polls close at 8 p.m.

For additional information, the public can call the registrar's Absent Voter Section at [phone] from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The same rules apply in Ventura County, although absentee ballot requests should be directed to the Ventura County Clerk and Recorder's Elections Division, 800 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura, CA 93009. For information about absentee voting in Ventura County, call [phone].