FILE PHOTO Explaining the ballot A month before the 2012 election, Mathews Registrar Ruth Ann Hutson, right, visited the Mathews Active Lifestyle Center to give senior citizens an update on voting procedures. She told them that there were five candidates for president on that year’s ballot, including not only the leading contenders, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, but also candidates from the Constitution, Libertarian and Green parties. Hutson urged them to find out about the two state constitutional amendments on the ballot—one concerning eminent domain and the other dealing with the length of time between legislative and veto sessions, and she told them that, with 18 reasons available, they might find they’re eligible to vote absentee. Here, she shows Elsie Monroe, left, a voting machine as center director Laura Matthews looks on.