§ 5-29

Upon application to vote, except as hereinafter provided for absent electors, each registered elector shall sign his name or make his mark as the case may be, on a certificate substantially as follows: "Certificate of Registered Voter Town of................District or Precinct Number..........; City of................Ward...............Precinct..........; Village of................................Precinct..........; Election..................................................... (date) (month) (year) Registration record Checked by..................... Voter's number.................. Instruction to voters Sign this certificate and hand it to the election officer in charge. After the registration record has been checked, the officer will hand it back to you. Whereupon you shall present it to the officer in charge of the ballots. I hereby certify that I am registered from the address below and am qualified to vote. Signature of voter ............... Residence address ..............." An individual shall not be required to provide his social security number when applying for a ballot. He shall not be denied a ballot, nor shall his ballot be challenged, solely because of his refusal to provide his social security number. Nothing in this Act prevents an individual from being requested to provide his social security number when the individual applies for a ballot. If, however, the certificate contains a space for the individual's social security number, the following notice shall appear on the certificate, immediately above such space, in bold-face capital letters, in type the size of which equals the largest type on the certificate: "THE INDIVIDUAL APPLYING FOR A BALLOT WITH THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT REQUIRED TO DISCLOSE HIS OR HER SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. HE OR SHE MAY NOT BE DENIED A BALLOT, NOR SHALL HIS OR HER BALLOT BE CHALLENGED, SOLELY BECAUSE OF HIS OR HER REFUSAL TO PROVIDE HIS OR HER SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER." Certificates as above prescribed shall be furnished by the county clerk for all elections. The Judges in charge of the precinct registration files shall compare the signature upon such certificate with the signature on the registration record card as a means of identifying the voter. Unless satisfied by such comparison that the applicant to vote is the identical person who is registered under the same name, the Judges shall ask such applicant the questions for identification which appear on the registration card and if the applicant does not prove to the satisfaction of a majority of the judges of the election precinct that he is the identical person registered under the name in question then the vote for such applicant shall be challenged by a Judge of Election, and the same procedure followed as provided by law for challenged voters. In case the elector is unable to sign his name, a Judge of Election shall check the data on the registration card and shall check the address given, with the registered address, in order to determine whether he is entitled to vote. One of the Judges of election shall check the certificate of each applicant for a ballot after the registration record has been examined and shall sign his initials on the certificate in the space provided therefor, and shall enter upon such certificate the number of the voter in the place provided therefor, and make an entry in the voting record space on the registration record, to indicate whether or not the applicant voted. Such judge shall then hand such certificate back to the applicant in case he is permitted to vote, and such applicant shall hand it to the judge of election in charge of the ballots. The certificates of the voters shall be filed in the order in which they are received and shall constitute an official poll record. The term "Poll Lists" and "Poll Books" where used in this article 5 shall be construed to apply to such official poll records. After each general primary election the county clerk shall indicate by color code or other means next to the name of each registrant on the list of registered voters in each precinct the primary ballot of a political party that the registrant requested at that general primary election. The county clerk, within 60 days after the general primary election, shall provide a copy of this coded list to the chair of the county central committee of each established political party or to the chair's duly authorized representative. Within 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1983, the county clerk shall provide to the chair of the county central committee of each established political party or to the chair's duly authorized representative the list of registered voters in each precinct at the time of the general primary election of 1982 and shall indicate on such list by color code or other means next to the name of a registrant the primary ballot of a political party that the registrant requested at the general primary election of 1982. The county clerk may charge a fee to reimburse the actual cost of duplicating each copy of a list provided under either of the 2 preceding paragraphs. Where an elector makes application to vote by signing and presenting the certificate provided by this Section, and his registration record card is not found in the precinct registry of voters, but his name appears as that of a registered voter in such precinct upon the printed precinct list of voters and whose name has not been erased or withdrawn from such register, it shall be the duty of one of the Judges of Election to require an affidavit by such person and two voters residing in the precinct before the judges of election that he is the same person whose name appears upon the precinct register and that he resides in the precinct stating the street number of his residence. Forms for such affidavit shall be supplied by the county clerk for all elections. Upon the making of such affidavit and the presentation of his certificate such elector shall be entitled to vote. All affidavits made under this paragraph shall be preserved and returned to the county clerk in an envelope. It shall be the duty of the county clerk within 30 days after such election to take steps provided by Section 5-27 of this article 5 for the execution of new registration affidavits by electors who have voted under the provisions of this paragraph. Provided, however, that the applications for ballots made by registered voters and under the provisions of article 19 of this act shall be accepted by the Judges of Election in lieu of the "certificate of registered voter" provided for in this section. When the county clerk delivers to the judges of election for use at the polls a supplemental or consolidated list of the printed precinct register, he shall give a copy of the supplemental or consolidated list to the chair of a county central committee of an established political party or to the chair's duly authorized representative. Whenever two or more elections occur simultaneously, the election authority charged with the duty of providing application certificates may prescribe the form thereof so that a voter is required to execute only one, indicating in which of the elections he desires to vote. After the signature has been verified, the judges shall determine in which political subdivisions the voter resides by use of the information contained on the voter registration cards or the separate registration lists or other means approved by the State Board of Elections and prepared and supplied by the election authority. The voter's certificate shall be so marked by the judges as to show the respective ballots which the voter is given.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 100-1027, eff. 1-1-19 .)