Section 217.30  Issuance of Ballots

a)         A ranking ballot shall be issued to any qualified person requesting a ballot. The qualified persons must maintain or have maintained a residence within the municipality immediately prior to the person being located outside of the United States.

b)         Ranking ballots shall be issued and mailed with the consolidated primary ballot.  An additional ballot containing races for which the voter is entitled to cast a vote but that do not appear on the consolidated primary ballot shall be sent to the voter as soon as they become available from the election authority in charge of printing the ballots.

c)         All ranking ballots shall include a set of instructions directing the voter to rank his or her choices for each of the candidates listed on the ballot.  The directions shall include a notice that the voter must make a numerical notation (1, 2, 3, and so on) designating a ranked preference for any candidate for which he or she intends to cast a vote.  The directions shall also inform the voter that he or she is not required to indicate a numerical preference for more than one candidate on the ranked ballot.