Section 23-15-625 - Duties of registrar relating to the provision and disbursement of absentee voting applications; request for application by person other than elector seeking to vote by absentee ballot; solicitation of absentee ballot applications for persons staying in skilled nursing facility prohibited; exceptions; maintenance of list of absentee voters; public access to list; placement of absentee ballots in ballot boxes; authority to mail applications to qualified electors; use of Statewide Election Management System(1) The registrar shall be responsible for providing applications for absentee voting as provided in this section. At least sixty (60) days before any election in which absentee voting is provided for by law, the registrar shall provide a sufficient number of applications. In the event a special election is called and set at a date which makes it impractical or impossible to prepare applications for absent elector's ballot sixty (60) days before the election, the registrar shall provide applications as soon as practicable after the election is called. The registrar shall fill in the date of the particular election on the application for which the application will be used. For voters appearing in person to cast an absentee vote, the application and elector certificate shall be printed on the absentee ballot envelope as provided in Section 1 of this act.(2) The registrar shall be authorized to disburse applications for absentee ballots to any qualified elector within the county where he or she serves. Any person who presents to the registrar an oral or written request for an absentee ballot application for a voter entitled to vote absentee by mail, other than the elector who seeks to vote by absentee ballot, shall, in the presence of the registrar, sign the application and print on the application his or her name and address and the name of the elector for whom the application is being requested in the place provided for on the application for that purpose. However, if for any reason such person is unable to write the information required, then the registrar shall write the information on a printed form which has been prescribed by the Secretary of State. The form shall provide a place for such person to place his or her mark after the form has been filled out by the registrar.(3) It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit absentee ballot applications or absentee ballots for persons staying in any skilled nursing facility as defined in Section 41-7-173 unless the person soliciting the absentee ballot applications or absentee ballots is: (a) A family member of the person staying in the skilled nursing facility; or(b) A person designated by the person for whom the absentee ballot application or absentee ballot is sought, the registrar or the deputy registrar. As used in this subsection, "family member" means a spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling, adult child, grandchild or legal guardian.
(4) The registrar in the county wherein a voter is qualified to vote upon receiving by mail the envelope containing the absentee ballots shall keep an accurate list of all persons preparing such ballots. The list shall be kept in a conspicuous place accessible to the public near the entrance to the registrar's office. The registrar shall also furnish to each precinct manager a list of the names of all persons in each respective precinct voting absentee by mail and in person to be posted in a conspicuous place at the polling place for public notice. The application on file with the registrar and the envelopes containing the ballots that voters mailed to the registrar shall be kept by the registrar in his or her office in a secure location. At the time such boxes are delivered to the election commissioners or managers, the registrar shall also turn over a list of all such persons who have voted and whose mailed ballots are in the registrar's office.(5) The registrar shall also be authorized to mail one (1) application to any qualified elector of the county, who is eligible to vote by absentee ballot, for use in a particular election.(6) The registrar shall process all applications for absentee ballots by using the Statewide Election Management System. The registrar shall account for all absentee ballots delivered to and received by mail as well as those who voted absentee in person from qualified voters by processing such ballots using the Statewide Election Management System.Derived from 1972 Code § 23-9-405 [Codes, 1942, § 3203-403; Laws, 1972, ch. 490, § 405; repealed by Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 341]; Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 200; Laws, 1993, ch. 528, § 5; Laws, 1999, ch. 420, § 1; Laws, 2006, ch. 574, § 16; Laws, 2008, ch. 528, § 9; Laws, 2012, ch. 471, § 2, eff. 9/6/2012 (the date the United States Attorney General interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965). .Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 536, HB 1406,§ 8, eff. 7/1/2024.Amended by Laws, 2020, ch. 472, HB 1521,§ 9, eff. 7/8/2020.