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2021 SPECIAL SESSION I

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SB 1245 Absentee voting; establishment of drop-off locations preprocessing returned absentee ballots.

Introduced by: R. Creigh Deeds | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS ENACTED WITH GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION:

Absentee voting; establishment of drop-off locations; preprocessing of returned absentee ballots before election day; cure process; accessibility for voters with visual impairment or print disability. Requires certain actions to be taken to process absentee ballots returned before the day of an election, including verifying the correct completion of the voter affirmation statement, and provides for an opportunity for an absentee voter to make corrections to the statement in certain circumstances. The bill requires the establishment of drop-off locations. Additionally, a central absentee voter precinct is required to be established in each locality; currently, establishment is optional. On the day of the election, officers of election are required to begin processing absentee ballots in the central absentee voter precincts prior to the close of polls, but no ballot vote counts are permitted to be transmitted outside of the central absentee voter precinct prior to the close of polls; a violation of such prohibition is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill requires a ballot marking tool with screen reader assistive technology to be made available for absentee voters with a print disability. The Department of Elections is directed to convene a work group to consider and evaluate methods for sorting absentee ballots by precinct and reporting absentee ballot totals by precincts.

SUMMARY AS PASSED:

Absentee voting; establishment of drop-off locations; preprocessing of returned absentee ballots before election day; cure process; accessibility for voters with visual impairment or print disability. Requires certain actions to be taken to process absentee ballots returned before the day of an election, including verifying the correct completion of the voter affirmation statement, and provides for an opportunity for an absentee voter to make corrections to the statement in certain circumstances. The bill requires the establishment of drop-off locations. Additionally, a central absentee voter precinct is required to be established in each locality; currently, establishment is optional. On the day of the election, officers of election are required to begin processing absentee ballots in the central absentee voter precincts prior to the close of polls, but no ballot vote counts are permitted to be transmitted outside of the central absentee voter precinct prior to the close of polls; a violation of such prohibition is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill requires a ballot marking tool with screen reader assistive technology to be made available for absentee voters with a print disability. The Department of Elections is directed to convene a work group to consider and evaluate methods for sorting absentee ballots by precinct and reporting absentee ballot totals by precincts.

SUMMARY AS PASSED SENATE:

Absentee voting; establishment of drop-off locations; ballot defects; cure process. Requires the establishment of a drop-off location for the return of marked absentee ballots at the office of the general registrar and each voter satellite office. On the day of any election, a drop-off location shall be available at each polling place in operation for such election. The bill allows the general registrar of any county or city to establish additional drop-off locations within the county or city as he deems necessary. The Department of Elections is required to set standards related to the establishment and operation of drop-off locations, including security requirements. The bill also requires general registrars to take certain actions to preprocess absentee ballots returned before election day and to notify an absentee voter of any errors or issues with the completion or return of his absentee ballot that would render the ballot void. The general registrars are required to enter into the voter's record in the registration system that the voter's absentee ballot has an issue requiring correction and to notify the voter in writing or by email of the error or failure, in addition to providing information on how to correct the issue. The absentee voter then has until noon on the third day following the election to make necessary corrections so that his ballot may be counted. This ballot cure process applies only to those absentee ballots received by the Friday immediately preceding the day of the election. The bill contains technical amendments for organizational purposes.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:


Absentee voting; establishment of drop-off locations; ballot defects; cure process. Requires the establishment of a drop-off location for the return of marked absentee ballots at the office of the general registrar and each voter satellite office. On the day of any election, a drop-off location shall be available at each polling place in operation for such election. The bill allows the general registrar of any county or city to establish additional drop-off locations within the county or city as he deems necessary. The Department of Elections is required to set standards related to the establishment and operation of drop-off locations, including security requirements. The bill also requires general registrars to take certain actions to preprocess absentee ballots returned before election day and to notify an absentee voter of any errors or issues with the completion or return of his absentee ballot that would render the ballot void. The general registrars are required to enter into the voter's record in the registration system that the voter's absentee ballot has an issue requiring correction and to notify the voter in writing or by email of the error or failure, in addition to providing information on how to correct the issue. The absentee voter then has until noon on the third day following the election to make necessary corrections so that his ballot may be counted. This ballot cure process applies only to those absentee ballots received by the Friday immediately preceding the day of the election. The bill contains technical amendments for organizational purposes.