§ 1-6B-4 — Role of secretary of state; federal Uniformed and Overseas

Citizens Absentee Voting Act. A. The secretary of state shall make available to federal qualified electors information regarding voter registration procedures for federal qualified electors and procedures for casting military-overseas ballots. B. The secretary of state shall maintain a web page dedicated to federal qualified electors. The dedicated web page shall be accessible from international internet connections and may be segregated from the main website for the office of the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall establish an electronic transmission system through which a federal qualified elector may apply for and receive voter registration materials, military-overseas ballots and other information pursuant to the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act. The secretary of state shall ensure that the electronic transmission system is capable of accepting a federal postcard application, any other approved electronic registration application and any other approved electronic military-overseas ballot application sent to a county clerk. C. Official transmittal envelopes and official mailing envelopes for transmission of mailed ballot materials to and from federal qualified electors shall be in the same form as those used in the jurisdiction where the voter is registered except as modified to comply with the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act or federal law. The secretary of state may, to the extent reasonably possible, coordinate with other states to develop standardized materials for voting by mail, including privacy and transmission envelopes and their electronic equivalents, authentication materials and voting instructions, to be used with the military-overseas ballot of a voter authorized to vote in any jurisdiction in this state. D. The secretary of state shall prescribe the form and content of a declaration for use by a federal qualified elector to swear or affirm specific representations pertaining to the voter's identity, eligibility to vote, status as a federal qualified elector and timely and proper completion of a military-overseas ballot. The declaration shall be based on the declaration prescribed to accompany a federal write-in absentee ballot, as modified to be consistent with the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act. The secretary of state shall ensure that a form for the execution of the declaration, including an indication of the date of execution of the declaration, is a prominent part of all balloting materials for which the declaration is required. E. The secretary of state shall prescribe to the county clerk the form of and distribute to each county clerk a supply of: (1) official inner envelopes for use in sealing the completed mailed ballot; (2) official mailing envelopes for use in returning the official inner envelope to the county clerk, which shall be postage-paid within the United States postal system; provided that only the official mailing envelope for mailed ballots in a political party primary shall contain a designation of party affiliation; (3) mailed ballot instructions describing the proper methods for completion and return of the ballot, including instructions for those federal qualified electors returning a ballot electronically; (4) official transmittal envelopes for use by the county clerk in mailing ballot materials; and (5) official holding envelopes for ballots returned electronically by federal qualified electors.

Legislative History

Laws 2015, ch. 145, § 28; 2018, ch. 79, § 10; 2019, ch. 212, § 79.