KOROR, Palau — The Palau Election Commission (PEC) began mailing out absentee ballots after they arrived from Guam on Tuesday this week. 

During a press conference, PEC Executive Director Sherwin Yamaguchi announced that walk-in voting began Wednesday afternoon. He advised voters who will be traveling outside of Palau on Election Day to bring a copy of their airline tickets to the PEC to cast their walk-in votes before departing.

As of Tuesday, PEC had received 2,515 requests for absentee ballots, surpassing the 2,393 ballots mailed during the 2020 national election. Yamaguchi stated that PEC aims to send out the requested absentee ballots within the week. The commission will continue accepting absentee ballot requests until October 29, seven days before the election.

Next week, the patrol boat will be deployed to the Southwest Islands to collect votes from remote areas.

Absentee voters must submit their ballots on or before Election Day, November 5. Any ballots received after November 5 will be considered invalid, as each absentee ballot must be accompanied by a notarized affidavit confirming it was cast on or before Election Day.

Yamaguchi emphasized that absentee ballots should be mailed individually, even for family members living at the same address. Bulk mailing of ballots will not be accepted.

All absentee ballots must return to Palau by November 12, seven days after the election. Ballots received after the cutoff will not be counted.