HB1131eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1131 Engrossed LRB096 09698 JAM 19859 b

AN ACT concerning elections.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Sections 20-2.3, 20-5, and 20-6 as follows:

(10 ILCS 5/20-2.3) (from Ch. 46, par. 20-2.3)

Sec. 20-2.3. Members of the Armed Forces and their spouses and dependents. Any member of the United States Armed Forces while on active duty, and his or her spouse and dependents, otherwise qualified to vote, who expects in the course of his or her duties to be absent from the county in which he or she resides on the day of holding any election, in addition to any other method of making application for an absentee ballot under this Article, may make application for an absentee ballot to the election authority having jurisdiction over his or her precinct of residence by a facsimile machine or electronic transmission not less than 10 days before the election.

Ballots under this Section shall be mailed by the election authority in the manner prescribed by Section 20-5 of this Article and not otherwise. Ballots voted under this Section must be returned to the election authority before the closing of the polls on the day of election and must be counted at the election authority's central ballot counting location.

(Source: P.A. 94-1000, eff. 7-3-06.)

(10 ILCS 5/20-5) (from Ch. 46, par. 20-5)

Sec. 20-5. The election authority shall fold the ballot or ballots in the manner specified by the statute for folding ballots prior to their deposit in the ballot box and shall enclose such ballot in an envelope unsealed to be furnished by it, which envelope shall bear upon the face thereof the name, official title and post office address of the election authority, and upon the other side of such envelope there shall be printed a certification in substantially the following form:

"CERTIFICATION

I state that I am a resident/former resident of the ....... precinct of the city/village/township of ............, (Designation to be made by Election Authority) or of the .... ward in the city of ........... (Designation to be made by Election Authority) residing at ................ in said city/village/township in the county of ........... and State of Illinois; that I am a

1. ( ) member of the United States Service

2. ( ) citizen of the United States temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States

3. ( ) nonresident civilian citizen

and desire to cast the enclosed ballot pursuant to Article 20 of The Election Code; that I am lawfully entitled to vote in such precinct at the ........... election to be held on ............

I further state that I marked the enclosed ballot in secret.

Under penalties as provided by law pursuant to Article 29 of The Election Code, the undersigned certifies that the statements set forth in this certification are true and correct.

...............(Name)

.....................

(Service Address)"

.....................

.....................

.....................

If the ballot enclosed is to be voted at a primary election, the certification shall designate the name of the political party with which the voter is affiliated.

In addition to the above, the election authority shall provide printed slips giving full instructions regarding the manner of completing the forms and affidavits for absentee registration or the manner of marking and returning the ballot in order that the same may be counted, and shall furnish one of the printed slips to each of the applicants at the same time the registration materials or ballot is delivered to him.

In addition to the above, if a ballot to be provided to an elector pursuant to this Section contains a public question described in subsection (b) of Section 28-6 and the territory concerning which the question is to be submitted is not described on the ballot due to the space limitations of such ballot, the election authority shall provide a printed copy of a notice of the public question, which shall include a description of the territory in the manner required by Section 16-7. The notice shall be furnished to the elector at the same time the ballot is delivered to the elector.

The envelope in which such registration or such ballot is mailed to the voter as well as the envelope in which the registration materials or the ballot is returned by the voter shall have printed across the face thereof two parallel horizontal red bars, each one-quarter inch wide, extending from one side of the envelope to the other side, with an intervening space of one-quarter inch, the top bar to be one and one-quarter inches from the top of the envelope, and with the words "Official Election Balloting Material-VIA AIR MAIL" between the bars. In the upper right corner of such envelope in a box, there shall be printed the words: "U.S. Postage Paid 42 USC 1973". All printing on the face of such envelopes shall be in red, including an appropriate inscription or blank in the upper left corner of return address of sender.

The envelope in which the ballot is returned to the election authority may be delivered (i) by mail, postage paid, (ii) in person, by the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of the voter, or (iii) by a company engaged in the business of making deliveries of property and licensed as a motor carrier of property by the Illinois Commerce Commission under the Illinois Commercial Transportation Law.

(Source: P.A. 84-1467.)

(10 ILCS 5/20-6) (from Ch. 46, par. 20-6)

Sec. 20-6. Such absent voter shall make and subscribe to the certifications provided for in the application and on the return envelope for the ballot, and such ballot or ballots shall then be folded by such voter in the manner required to be folded before depositing the same in the ballot box, and be deposited in such envelope and the envelope securely sealed. The envelope in which the ballot is returned to the election authority may be delivered (i) by mail, postage paid, (ii) in person, by the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of the voter, or (iii) by a company engaged in the business of making deliveries of property and licensed as a motor carrier of property by the Illinois Commerce Commission under the Illinois Commercial Transportation Law. Such envelope shall be mailed by such voter, to the officer issuing the ballot or, if more convenient, it may be delivered in person.

(Source: P.A. 81-155.)